It took the Briceno administration a WHILE to find a suitable chairperson of the public service commission - but tonight that Chairman, Diana Price Murillo seems to have delegated many of her powers to the CEO in the Ministry of the Public Service - and it is raising an alarm for some.
A publication in the gazette of 18th March says it's delegating powers to the Ministry of the Public Service to appoint persons to hold or act in offices in the public service, and the power to transfer.
The delegation of powers is retractive to May of 2022 and stays in force until 2025.
The reasoning behind this move is unclear, but the President of the PSU says, quote, "the delegation is vested in the very Constitution that purports to insulate the Human Resource in the Public Service from political creatures. It has been a practice for as many years as I can remember. What is worrying however, is that I see the power to Appoint on Promotion in this and that is of concern."
The Leader of the Opposition has issued a statement saying, quote, "The PSC is Constitutionally independent. It is there to guarantee fairplay to public officers; to act as a bulwark against arbitrary or political decisions of the Executive affecting appointments, promotions, transfers and all else having to do with the welfare of public officers.
To delegate those powers of the PSC, supposed to be insulation for public officers against Executive maltreatment, to the very Executive against which the PSC is a guardrail, rubbishes any notion of a check on the Executive, of Constitutional protection for the public officers." End quote.
