The Guyana Police Association has warned against any challenge to the controversial appointments of members of the Police Service Commission (PSC), saying it will be seen a direct attack on the welfare of the ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
In a statement published on the GPF’s Facebook page on Thursday, the Association, which says it represents some 4,500 members of the force, said that it supports President Irfaan Ali’s recent appointment of the PSC members.
“…We support his Excellency President Dr Irfaan Ali appointment of the Police Service Commission and view any challenge(s) of it as a direct attack on the welfare of ranks of the Guyana Police Force and all of Guyana,” the statement said.
On Tuesday, Ali swore in Patrick Findlay, Mark Conway, Hakeem Mohammed and Ernesto Choo-a-Fat to the PSC. Findlay took the oath of office as the new PSC Chairman.
Appointments were also made to the Integrity Commission.
The move was made less than an hour after Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, issued a warning at his weekly press conference that he will take legal action, if the government went ahead and named members of constitutional commissions in the absence of “meaningful consultation”.
Norton had said that his legal team were discussing and exploring all possible avenues.
He added that whenever a decision is arrived at, they will apprise the public as to the next move.
Guyana’s constitution stipulates that the Chair of the Police Service Commission is to be appointed by the President after “meaningful consultation” with the Leader of the Opposition.
The two leaders met for the first time on May 13, 2022, after which they issued a joint statement committing to meeting again within a week. However, that meeting did not happen within the stipulated timeline and the meeting was rescheduled for Monday, May 30 but Norton was unable to attend the meeting owing to prior commitments.
Following the first meeting, Norton requested the curriculum vitae of the proposed appointees to the commissions along with additional information. The CVs were supplied to him followed by a back and forth between the government and himself relating to the additional information he was seeking.
Norton is adamant that the president must present the grounds on which the nominees were selected in order for an informed decision to be made.
However, the government, through Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira, has contended that President Ali is not mandated to provide any grounds and that he has complied with the constitution by providing the CVs of the appointees.
The Police Association, in its statement, said that it is of the view that Ali “triggers” any constitutional process at any time and as such all parties who are required to be a part of the process must make it a priority. “We believe any constitutional process takes precedence over any other duties since constitutional matters are of national importance,” the statement said.
The statement, which was signed by the Chairman of the Association, Inspector Prem Narine, took the view that “meaningful” consultation was executed between Ali and Norton as prescribed by the Constitution during their first meeting.
It added that the National Assembly’s Appointments Committee had unanimously approved the names of the nominees as did the general Assembly before the names were sent to the President. “It is reasonable to assume that both the Opposition and Government Members of Parliament would have reported their findings to their leaders, before the approval of the nominees,” noted the Association, which was one of the bodies consulted by the Appointments Committee in order to identify the nominees.
