Attorney Euclin Gomes has filed a court action to challenge Junior Social Protection Minister Simona Broomes’ request that the Public Service Commission (PSC) suspend interviews to fill vacancies within her ministry on the grounds that it is a constitutional body and she has no authority over it.
Gomes, who works out of the law firm run by former Attorney-General Anil Nandlall, is asking the High Court to grant a declaration that the PSC, in the exercise of its functions, shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority. He is also asking for a declaration that a letter sent to the PSC by Broomes, dated May 28th and directing that “all interviews and meetings of the Commission are to cease forthwith until further (sic) as instructed by His Excellency, the President, David Arthur Granger’s notice,” is in violation of Article 226 of the Constitution and is unlawful, null, void and of no legal effect.
Article 226 states: “Save as otherwise provided in this Constitution, in the exercise of its functions under this Constitution a Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.”
The court action comes after the PPP criticised Broomes’ action, saying that she acted outside of her mandate.
In the court filings seen by Stabroek News, Attorney-General Basil Williams is listed as the respondent, while Nandlall is listed as the attorney who will be representing Gomes in the case. It is due to come up for a first hearing on June 17th.
Gomes, in his supporting affidavit, made it clear that he had a vested interest in ensuring that the Constitution is not violated. He said the PSC is an independent constitutional commission tasked with the responsibility and power to make appointments to public offices within the Public Service and to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices.
It was noted that the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, now called the Ministry of Social Protection, has within its structure several public offices, which fall within the constitutional mandate and purview of the PSC.
Gomes, who included a copy of Broomes’ May 28th letter to the PSC, said that Article 38(G) of the Constitution guarantees the integrity of the Public Service and further insulates it from political influence.
Against this background, he pointed out that “it is clear that the said letter and its contents are in flagrant violation of the letter, spirit and the intendment of Articles 38(G), 201 and 206 of the Constitution of Guyana.”
On Monday, the PPP accused Broomes of unlawfully interfering with the commission’s work.
Broomes, in response, said she wrote to the PSC simply asking that interviews slated for May 29th be discontinued until further instruction by President Granger because of several complaints of irregularities in the hiring process. She added that she was not even clear if the vacancies really existed.
“Persons were being placed in jobs for which they were not qualified and I simply asked that the interviews be put on hold and I called the Secretary [of the PSC] and informed him of complaints that persons were being selected for political reasons. This is very shameful and I just wanted to understand what was happening. We are not trying to override the authority of the PSC,” Broomes told Stabroek News.
PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee told the media during a press conference that the minister had “overstepped her boundary… Ms. Broomes is either being bullish or ignorant of the fact that the PSC is an autonomous, statutory body as described in section 200-203 of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and cannot be dictated to by a Minister of Government.”
Nandlall, in a comment last Friday, had stated that the letter by the minister was a clear violation of the constitution and it constitutes unlawful interference with “a constitutional commission clothed with independence and autonomy in the discharge of its functions.”
