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Fight over control of public service
Ken Chaplin
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
The conflict over the appointment of Stephen Vasciannie as solicitor general and the dismissal of members of the Public Service Commission (PSC) by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister has developed into an unpleasant affair. Five files dealing with appointments and resignations of members of the PSC since 1972 are missing from the PSC's office at the Ministry of Finance and Planning at National Heroes Circle. The governor general's office at King's House cannot retrieve the relevant files.
In the absence of the files, the PSC cannot say whether members of the commission resigned when there was a change of government in 1972, 1980 and 1989. In 1972, the People's National Party succeeded the Jamaica Labour Party and was re-elected in 1976. In 1980, the JLP formed the government again and remained in office until 1989 when the PNP took over the reins of government again and remained in office until 2007. As I remember, there was a convention that members of the PSC should resign to make way for the prime minister to recommend to the governor general the people he wanted on the PSC. I wanted to establish beyond doubt from the records whether members of the PSC had resigned when there was a change of government, so I turned to the PSC and King's House, but without success.
Therefore, I had to rely on the memories of a few members of past PSCs for information. One thing a former member of the PSC was certain about was that following the re-election of the PNP in 1976, members of the PSC were asked by Prime Minister Michael Manley to resign to make way for "little people".They resigned en bloc. It turned out that the "little people" included heavyweights and democratic socialists like Professor Rex Nettleford, Rev Ernle Gordon and E Lloyd Taylor. The governor general at the time, Sir Florizel Glasspole, accepted the resignations in order to avoid a constitutional crisis. The prime minister has no power to appoint or dismiss members. He did not appoint them in the first place. That power, in the final analysis, belongs to the governor general and as was the case of Sir Florizel, I believe he acted correctly. Another point is that the governor general cannot be sued in this or any such matters.
The Jamaican Constitution, as I wrote on December 25, "was written by gentlemen for gentlemen as a guide for good governance". The column further stated that "at the time when the Constitution was being drafted for independence, the founding fathers could not have envisioned the time would come when the executive arm of government (the Cabinet), would pack the PSC with its own sympathisers so that it could make any appointment to the public service the government wanted". This is the cause of most of the problems at present in the public service, including that which the Attorney General's Department is now experiencing because it has been dominated by PNP activists brought in over the past 18 years.
With a new government it cannot be business as usual. Many of the staff cannot accept that there has been a change of government and new policies relating to the management of the department have to be introduced in keeping with the government's promise to improve the administration of justice. The dismissed PSC was of a heavy political colour (orange). Of the five members, only Alfred Sangster appeared to be independent-minded. Of the others, two are rabid PNP activists and the other two strong sympathisers.
The conflict arose over the recommendations by the PSC to the governor general for the appointment of deputy solicitor general Professor Vasciannie as solicitor general. When Golding left the National Democratic Movement and returned to the JLP, he was harshly criticised by Vasciannie (then a key NDM official) in an interview on the television programme, IMPACT. Having regard to the criticism, it was unthinkable that the PSC would have recommended the appointment of a man who has to work in a critical position in the government led by Golding. It was a provocative act, and could probably lead to further conflicts. The prime minister could not call for the resignation of the PSC. He did not appoint the members in the first place. The conflict is really a struggle between the PSC and the PNP and the government for the control of the public service.
It seems to me that the constitution will have to be amended to ensure that truly independent people are appointed to it, and it does not become an appendage of any political party, otherwise we could face a constitutional crisis. I believe that as was the intention of the founding fathers and it worked for a time, but if Golding does not reinstate the non-partisan characteristics of the PSC, the public service will be in dire trouble.
Ken Chaplin
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
The conflict over the appointment of Stephen Vasciannie as solicitor general and the dismissal of members of the Public Service Commission (PSC) by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister has developed into an unpleasant affair. Five files dealing with appointments and resignations of members of the PSC since 1972 are missing from the PSC's office at the Ministry of Finance and Planning at National Heroes Circle. The governor general's office at King's House cannot retrieve the relevant files.
In the absence of the files, the PSC cannot say whether members of the commission resigned when there was a change of government in 1972, 1980 and 1989. In 1972, the People's National Party succeeded the Jamaica Labour Party and was re-elected in 1976. In 1980, the JLP formed the government again and remained in office until 1989 when the PNP took over the reins of government again and remained in office until 2007. As I remember, there was a convention that members of the PSC should resign to make way for the prime minister to recommend to the governor general the people he wanted on the PSC. I wanted to establish beyond doubt from the records whether members of the PSC had resigned when there was a change of government, so I turned to the PSC and King's House, but without success.
Therefore, I had to rely on the memories of a few members of past PSCs for information. One thing a former member of the PSC was certain about was that following the re-election of the PNP in 1976, members of the PSC were asked by Prime Minister Michael Manley to resign to make way for "little people".They resigned en bloc. It turned out that the "little people" included heavyweights and democratic socialists like Professor Rex Nettleford, Rev Ernle Gordon and E Lloyd Taylor. The governor general at the time, Sir Florizel Glasspole, accepted the resignations in order to avoid a constitutional crisis. The prime minister has no power to appoint or dismiss members. He did not appoint them in the first place. That power, in the final analysis, belongs to the governor general and as was the case of Sir Florizel, I believe he acted correctly. Another point is that the governor general cannot be sued in this or any such matters.
The Jamaican Constitution, as I wrote on December 25, "was written by gentlemen for gentlemen as a guide for good governance". The column further stated that "at the time when the Constitution was being drafted for independence, the founding fathers could not have envisioned the time would come when the executive arm of government (the Cabinet), would pack the PSC with its own sympathisers so that it could make any appointment to the public service the government wanted". This is the cause of most of the problems at present in the public service, including that which the Attorney General's Department is now experiencing because it has been dominated by PNP activists brought in over the past 18 years.
With a new government it cannot be business as usual. Many of the staff cannot accept that there has been a change of government and new policies relating to the management of the department have to be introduced in keeping with the government's promise to improve the administration of justice. The dismissed PSC was of a heavy political colour (orange). Of the five members, only Alfred Sangster appeared to be independent-minded. Of the others, two are rabid PNP activists and the other two strong sympathisers.
The conflict arose over the recommendations by the PSC to the governor general for the appointment of deputy solicitor general Professor Vasciannie as solicitor general. When Golding left the National Democratic Movement and returned to the JLP, he was harshly criticised by Vasciannie (then a key NDM official) in an interview on the television programme, IMPACT. Having regard to the criticism, it was unthinkable that the PSC would have recommended the appointment of a man who has to work in a critical position in the government led by Golding. It was a provocative act, and could probably lead to further conflicts. The prime minister could not call for the resignation of the PSC. He did not appoint the members in the first place. The conflict is really a struggle between the PSC and the PNP and the government for the control of the public service.
It seems to me that the constitution will have to be amended to ensure that truly independent people are appointed to it, and it does not become an appendage of any political party, otherwise we could face a constitutional crisis. I believe that as was the intention of the founding fathers and it worked for a time, but if Golding does not reinstate the non-partisan characteristics of the PSC, the public service will be in dire trouble.
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