PSC ordered Siddiqui Sylvester to step aside

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Parent Category: Aug 2011

Category: Week ending Aug 06th, 2011

Published on Monday, 08 August 2011 22:11

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A leading member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Siddiqui Sylvester has admitted that the Public Service Commission (PSC) had challenged his decision nearly 20 years ago to take up a political post with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) while holding a civil service job. Sylvester who is a member of NDC’s Disciplinary Committee confirmed to THE NEW TODAY newspaper that when he was elected as the party’s Assistant General Secretary in 1992  he was a public servant.

Sylvester, now a leading travel agent representative in the country, was at the time working with the Ministry of Community Development. He said the PSC had written to him on the matter and there were several bits of correspondents between the two of them on the issue since he was not in agreement with their stand. According to Sylvester, he eventually decided to relinquish the party post on the urgings of some party members.

Some of the leading members of the NDC in those days were former Prime Ministers, Sir Nicholas Brathwaite and George Brizan who are staunch supporters of the independence of the public service and the Executive arm of government. Sylvester said that despite agreeing to step down from his public service post, he did not believe then as now that it was the right thing to do. He said that in the current situation involving the embattled NDC Chairman, Kenrick Fullerton who is holding a public service post that subjects him to the rules of the commission, he believes that the law courts should decide the issue.

Prime Minister Tillman Thomas, who is the Political Leader of Congress had met with Fullerton prior to the election, advising him not to contest the party post on account of his position that holds him accountable to PSC regulations. Sylvester who supports the faction of the NDC that voted for Fullerton felt that when there is a problem on such an issue then a court should be the place to have it resolved.

“In terms of a solution or a resolve on the particular matter it has to be some legal opinion (in) the court,” he told this newspaper. According to Sylvester when he himself had faced such a similar situation, he was of the opinion that he did not have to resign since he thought he could have kept both positions. He said eventually he was encouraged by the party to relinquish the post of assistant General Secretary.

“I interpreted the regulation differently and, of course, based on my interpretation I challenged the decision and that is why on more than one occasion we had the back and forth between us on that position,” he added. Sylvester who is the Chairman of the NDC St. George’s North West Constituency Branch said while one may go along with what the Political Leader and the party dictates, it does not mean that one should not seek to get a legal conclusion on it.

Under the Grenada Constitution, Section 111 describes a public officer as “a person holding or acting in any public office”. The section also states that the only persons who are exempted from this definition are those occupying “the office of President or Deputy President of the Senate, the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Prime  Minister or any other Minister, a Parliamentary Secretary, a Senator or a member of the House of Representatives”.

Fullerton holds the public office of Policy Advisor to the Ministry of Sports and is outside of the category of persons exempt from the orbit of the PSC.

www.grenadamarket.com

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