How independent can one be?

Sep 14, 2013 Editorial

When a public servant becomes so frustrated at the antics of politicians that he wants to retire or resign then one can see how politics intrudes into public life. Generally, the politician is supposed to be operating apart from and outside the realm of the public servant.
The colonial masters clearly understood the principle of separation of powers so they had a public servant dubbed the Permanent Secretary to head the public service and to act as the bridge between the political directorate and the public service.
Needless to say, there were many a clash between the politician in the person of the subject Minister and the permanent secretary because the Minister often believed that he or she knew best, the workings of the Ministry. However, the staff at the lower level was protected from the politician.
Objective conditions lead to change in situations. Somewhere along the way the lines between the politician and the professional became blurred. The politician became all powerful and pretty soon he found that he had direct access to the low level public servant. The age of the paramountcy of the party had arrived.
The British who left the people with a legacy of separation of powers now found that the country that they left was different and the difference was something that the British themselves never contemplated.
The courts are far removed from the corridors of political power. The president of the country appoints the judges but he cannot sack any judge, neither can he instruct a judge to hand down a decision one way or the other. Yet, given the political influence and that judges, like people in every society , would have certain political leanings there are those in society who would swear that there are judges who would never hand down a decision to impact the government.
The Guyana constitution is founded on three pillars. These are the Executive comprising the president and the members of Cabinet; the Parliament and the Judiciary. Each is independent of the other and while there is interaction none can dictate to the other.
The Speaker of the national Assembly is considered a creature of the politicians. In Guyana he is appointed by the political party or group of parties with the largest bloc of votes. Until now the party with the largest bloc of votes formed the government and often had a majority in the National Assembly. This party therefore appointed the Speaker and held control of the Speaker.
With a minority government the Speaker comes from the Opposition but because he did not come from among the opposition his independence is unchallenged. Also unchallenged are the other members who perform the services that ensure the functioning of the National Assembly. We therefore come to the Clerk.
This past week he lamented the attempts at dictation. He claimed that these were so much that he was prepared to quit. Something is wrong here. This man is independent of the courts and the politicians. He cannot be sacked in the same way judges cannot be sacked at the whims of some Government functionary.
However, it must be that the vestiges of party paramountcy is still very evident because the Clerk of the national Assembly feels constrained to bow to the whims and fancies of the politicians. It is unfortunate that he has allowed himself to be so frustrated that he foresees a stress-related stroke.
This man who should not have to worry about tenure suddenly finds himself making scathing remarks about the National Assembly. When a man can describe this current sitting of the National Assembly as the worst in his career, surely the politicians must take note of their actions and their general demeanor.
The Clerk feels pressured by the government and the opposition alike when he should simply ignore them. The truth is that while he is independent of their actions he is beholden to the government for his retirement benefits. It is sad that the level of independence is actually an illusion, dependent on the dictates of the politicians who form the government. Paramountcy is not dead.

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How independent can one be?

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