The National Assembly on Thursday approved the appointment of Carvil Duncan and Cecil Seepersaud to the Public Service Commission, after the ninth report of the Committee on Appointments dealing with the matter was adopted.

The report was adopted without the support of the main opposition party, the PNCR-1G. Speaking on behalf of that party, Deborah Backer told the House that it is convinced that the Committee on Appointments is “an exercise in futility” since the government always has its way.

According to her, the government’s motto appeared to be “you will have a say and we will have our way” and this was reflected in the way it used its simple majority to accomplish what it wanted. She noted that the government had rejected her party’s nominations of Vera Naughton and Vincent Bowman. She said that this was not the first time this would have happened.

Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy branded Backer’s suggestions as “ludicrous”. He said that the nominees were selected via a consultative process and stressed that it was not always possible to have a consensus. According to him, the fact that consensus was not reached at all times does not mean that the process should be abandoned.

AFC MP Sheila Holder indicated that her party was in favour of the report being adopted.  She said that it is important to remember that the Constitution speaks of the independence of all persons who sit on the Commission and opined that if this is observed there shouldn’t be any real problems.

Chairperson of the Committee on Appointments Gail Teixeira while appreciating the support of the AFC accused Backer of childish behaviour.

She echoed the sentiments of Ramsammy and said that the decision was made after consultation. She said that the bodies consulted were the Guyana Labour Union, The Federation of Unions of Government Employees, the Guyana Public Service Union, the National Union of Public Service Employees and the Public Service Senior Staff Association.