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The State and the Public Service should be partners, not opponents. The Service is a permanent and inseparable part of the Government that must implement Cabinet’s executive decisions. Public servants should perform their duties impartially but need to be protected from misdirection for the political advantage of the party in office.
These were the views of former President David Granger, speaking on his regular programme – ‘The Public Interest.’ He recalled the recent High Court rulings which vindicated the impartiality and integrity of the Police Service Commission and upheld its constitutional status. This judgment ended the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s (PPP/C) latest attempt to control the commissions that control official appointments in the Public and Police Services.
Mr. Granger pointed out that public servants are required to work, without reservation, for the success of every lawfully-elected administration. This is premised on the notion that public servants should present Ministers with thoughtful advice based on their collective experience – unlikely unless the Service is composed of persons of competence and integrity who are capable of giving advice without partiality or prejudice.
The former President is of the view that the PPP/C disdains the concept of political impartiality in the Public Service. This mindset triggered big strikes when it was in office in 1963 and 1998 and continues to 2023. The PPP/C’s determination to dictate senior Service promotions was evident in earlier appointments of former PPP Ministers as Chairmen of the Public Service Commission, raising the question of whether partisan political appointees could be expected to properly administer an impartial Public Service.
The PPP/C’s entry into office in 2020 triggered another campaign to control the Service Commissions, the dissolution of the country’s first Public Service Staff College, the contemptuous stance on salary revision and the cold-blooded dismissal of about 1,800 public servants – some young parents – most without explanation or justification.
Can the public good be attained by the partisan political domination of the Public Service, asked the former President? The PPP/C’s policy is all about control, not cooperation. The Service will continue to underperform; relations between the State and the Service will remain unfavourable and attempts to control the Service commissions will remain undiminished without the vigilance of civil society and the diligence of the judiciary in protecting this valuable institution from being damaged by party-political domination.
