Two recent editorials in the Stabroek News under the following captions caught our attention: “Binary worldview” and “Permanent secretaries” published on 12 May 2024 and 13 May 2024, respectively. In relation to the former, the editorial’s assessment is that:
The [ruling party] lives in what it perceives to be a binary local universe: there is the party and there is the opposition. As such every individual, organization or entity in the country falls into one of these two categories, not excluding the various segments of civil society. In its over-simplified worldview impartiality, neutrality or even objectivity are not to be found in the political sphere, and it behaves much of the time as if that is the only sphere of human endeavour.
We agree entirely with the above assessment. It is most unfortunate that there is no recognition of the role civil society plays and the ability of individuals to stand on independent ground and above the political considerations. Many persons have suffered immensely, especially in terms of employment opportunities locally as well as overseas, because of this attitude. They are ostracized and treated as if they are outcasts and enemies of the State, not to mention persistent attempts at character assassination and vilification of the person, using the State media and other platforms that are readily accessible via the Internet.
The second editorial is a timely reminder of the need to have in place a system of governance whereby the public service is insulated from the political directorate to enable it to provide the much-needed professional and technical input as regards to the functioning of government. It must never be forgotten that governments come, and governments go, but it is the public service that remains in place to provide the institutional memory to facilitate continuity, especially whenever there is a change in Administration.
Today’s article is the subject of the second editorial.
Role of the Public Service
We need to be clear about the difference between the Public Service and the Civil Service. The latter is the government body responsible for the day-to-day running of the country, including roles such as civil servants, diplomats, and judges. The Civil Service requires highly skilled individuals who are selected based on merit and who implement public policies that serve the country’s interests. On the other hand, the Public Service is responsible for providing services to the public, including roles such as police officers, firefighters, and teachers.
Political neutrality is a long-standing principle, especially in the Westminster system of government whereby public servants are expected to support the government of the day by providing unbiased and evidence-based advice, implementing policies, and carrying out lawful instructions from Ministers. This practice allows public servants to maintain the trust of Ministers and enables them to serve successive governments as part of a permanent career-based Public Service.
The core civil service principles are integrity, honesty, objectivity, and impartiality. These principles involve: (i) putting public service above personal interest; (ii) being truthful and using public resources only for their intended purpose, uninfluenced by the prospect of personal gain; (iii) providing advice based on evidence, including expert or professional advice; and (iv) serving governments of different political persuasions with equal commitment and preserving their ability to build relationships with future governments while at the same time serving current Ministers.
In the United Kingdom, civil servants continue in position when governments change and are forbidden from offering political advice to Ministers, which is the role of special advisers. They must maintain individual impartiality that precludes them from engaging in party political activities even outside their work. Civil servants translate into action policy decisions set by Ministers. Because they continue in position when Ministers change, civil servants provide the necessary institutional memory for continuity. Civil servants are also expected to act as a “constitutional guardian” by advising Ministers if a particular course of action is likely to be unlawful or may result in a violation of constitutional norms. For further details about the UK Civil Service, see civil_service_briefing_final_0.pdf (ucl.ac.uk).
According to the New Zealand Public Service Act 2020:
The public service supports constitutional and democratic government, enables both the current Government and successive governments to develop and implement their policies, delivers high-quality and efficient public services, supports the Government to pursue the long-term public interest, facilitates active citizenship, and acts in accordance with the law.
The key public service principles are political neutrality, providing free and frank advice, merit-based appointments, open government, and stewardship. Public service chief executives (equivalent to Permanent Secretaries) are responsible for upholding these principles and ensuring that the agencies they lead also do so, including interdepartmental boards. They are accountable to the Public Service Commissioner for adherence to these principles. The Commissioner is appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister after consultation with the leader of each political party represented in the House of Representatives. He/she is responsible for, among others, appointing chief executives and reviewing their performance, including how they carry out their responsibilities and functions under the Act. When making decisions about individual chief executives, the Commissioner is not responsible to the Minister and must act independently. There is an elaborate procedure for the appointment of chief executives involving the use of a panel to identify the most suitable candidates, after which a recommendation is made to the Governor-General. For further details, see Public Service Act 2020 No 40 (as at 01 March 2024), Public Act Contents – New Zealand Legislation.
In Canada, the Public Service Commission is responsible for promoting and safeguarding ‘a merit-based, representative and non-partisan public service that serves all Canadians, in collaboration with stakeholders’. While public servants aim to convert the political priorities of the elected government from concept into action, their loyalty is to the Crown, rather than the sitting government. Public servants remain in employment even as governments and political priorities change. This requires them to exercise a degree of political neutrality and impartiality that restricts their ability to participate in partisan activities. Public servants are appointed based on merit often through a competitive examination. They provide honest, evidence-based advice to the Ministers without fear of losing their employment while at the same time carry out the will of the sitting government, even if it runs counter to their own advice or personal values. For further details, see Public Service Commission of Canada – Canada.ca.
According to Innovations and Reforms Center (IRC), politicization of the civil service can be defined as ‘an expansion of the executive branch political officials’ influence and control over the civil service, insofar as it becomes possible to make decisions prompted by party interests’. Politicization can take different forms and manifestations, the most widespread being appointments influenced by political/party interests. The Center went on to state that:
Political neutrality in democracies, in the context of partisan impartiality of the civil service, certainly is a precondition for a well-tuned, effective civil service and for ensuring fair/equal treatment of citizens, irrespective of their political views. Such fairness and impartiality could be achieved through recognition of professionalism, merit and competence among civil servants. These values are important both, in terms of fairness, as well as for the effectiveness and continuity of the public administration.
There is a wide consensus that political neutrality and the development of merit-based civil service is one of the main goals of the public administration reform. …The most sensitive and important problem in the civil service, with respect to the human resource management, is safeguarding the civil service from direct or indirect political influence at the management positions. For the maintenance of the merit-based, professional and effective civil service, it is essential to ensure its independence from political processes.
For further details see Political Neutrality in Civil Service: Legal frameworks and quality of implementation (usaid.gov).
Guyana’s experience
When Guyana became independent in 1966, it inherited a politically neutral Public Service staffed by professionally and technically competent officers. Appointments and promotion did not involve political considerations and were unaffected by a change in government. Since then, successive governments have eroded this practice by appointing persons in some cases with close ties with the ruling party, especially as regards senior positions in the Public Service, including Permanent Secretaries and Regional Executive Officers. According to Dr. Henry Jeffery, a former government Minister and political commentator:
There is need for fundamental constitutional, including public service, reforms and in relation to the latter the entire system needs rethinking. Guyana is a severely ethnically fractured society in which presidents and governments are essentially unaccountable and not viewed as representing the whole citizenry. The Westminster construct cannot be forced upon a situation where, by their actions over decades, the political representatives of over 80 percent of the population do not adhere to it. An effective public service must be contextualized with clear and transparent employment modalities to deliver continuous reassessment of the required mix of skills and competences. Protective constitutional mechanisms such as those that avoid decision that adversely affect the vital interests of ethnic groups are commonplace in divided societies and should be given greater weight in a future reform process.
For further details, see Constitutional reform: a neutral public service – Stabroek News
Article 38G of the Guyana Constitution is clear that the Public Service should be free from political influence. It states that the integrity of the Public Service is guaranteed and that no public officer shall be required to execute or condone irregular acts on the basis of higher orders. In accordance with Article 201, the Public Service Commission is responsible for making appointments to public offices and to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or in such offices. Since the office of the Permanent Secretary is a public office by virtue of Article 115, it is the Commission that should appoint Permanent Secretaries and Regional Executive Officers, and not the President. This is especially so, having regard to the principle of political neutrality of the Public Service.
Role of Permanent Secretary/Regional Executive Officer
The Permanent Secretary is the most senior civil servant in a Ministry or Department. He/she provides the necessary support to the subject Minister who is accountable to Parliament for the Ministry’s actions and performance. The Permanent Secretary, also known as Head of Budget Agency, is the accounting officer for his/her Ministry or Department and is responsible for the day-to-day running of his/her Ministry or Department, including the execution of the budget approved by Parliament. He/he is likewise accountable to Parliament, via the Public Accounts Committee, for the way public resources are expended. The same applies to Regional Executive Officers. Under the Hoyte Administration and perhaps earlier, Permanent Secretaries were required to prepare and submit annual reports to the National Assembly, via their subject Ministers, on the performance of their Ministries and Departments. Unfortunately, this practice was discontinued in the post-1992 years.
At the 2015 Commission of Inquiry into the Public Service, retired Permanent Secretary and senior member of the PPP/C, Hydar Ally, was reported as having stated that the Public Service should be depoliticized. He expressed regret at not taking a back seat in the political realm while on the job:
Maybe I should have kept a lower political profile but that is easier said than done… I don’t want to at this point try to make excuses. I think it is a violation of the principle of the impartiality of the public service and maybe I stand guilty as charged.
I think that [the principle of neutrality in the public service] is an ideal that we should always strive for but we are not living in an ideal society.
Mr. Ally, however, stated that this practice started years ago and had become a Guyanese culture.
The second Stabroek News editorial considers it most unacceptable for a Permanent Secretary to have to be at a ruling party Congress in any capacity and being elected to that party’s Central Committee. It asserts that the ruling party does not recognise that the post of the Permanent Secretary should be insulated from the reach of the party. It must, however, be said that, while it is the constitutional right of every citizen to be associated with any political party of his/her choice, the violation of the principle of political neutrality of the Public Service is clear when party operatives are catapulted into senior positions.
The editorial went on to state that:
Permanent Secretaries are meant to continue administrating the business of their ministries no matter which party takes the reins of office. At least in the traditions of the past, they continued on as their ministers recognised their non-political background and knew that they were in their positions by reason of their high skills and institutional knowledge. They could continue the programmes left incomplete by one government and they provided advice that was uncoloured by political bias. Not so these days. Neither this government nor the one before it or its predecessors apprehended this great attribute of good functioning governments. A change of government these days ends in a turning out of most permanent secretaries to be replaced by party sympathisers and activists and the upheaval that brings.
