Edmond Campbell, News Cordinator

Davis

Outgoing head of the public service and Cabinet Secretary, Dr Carlton Davis, says the issue surrounding the former members of the Public Service Commission (PSC) is something that was closer to the Greek definition of a tragedy.

Speaking in an interview with The Gleaner, Dr Davis said the episode, which led to the dismissal of the former PSC members, was regrettable.

Dr Davis goes into retirement on February 29, but could stay on until April 30 to facilitate the appointment of his successor.

He suggested that the issue could have been dealt with differently.

The Cabinet secretary explained that under the Constitution, the PSC could make a recommendation to the governor general for the appointment of public officials without consulting anybody.

No approval

According to Dr Davis, the recommendation to appoint Prof Stephen Vasciannie as solicitor general did not meet the approval of the government, for one reason or the other.

Discussing how this controversial issue could have been handled, Dr Davis said, "I suppose one way is to let the appointment go through, if Prof Vascianne does not perform, in his particular case, he would have been a contract appointment, and I am sure there would be terms of the contract which would allow separation on terms."

He argued that the Trinidadian independence constitution was similar to the Jamaican Constitution in regard to the role of the Public Service Commission.

Dr Davis said a change was made in the Trinidadian Republican Constitution of 1981, to give clearance power to the prime minister.

"It may be something that the Government needs to talk about with the people ..." he said.

The Cabinet Secretary said he was dragged into the PSC saga for doing something that he had always done.

"The Public Service Commission has the power to create interviewing panels," he said, noting that "I have sat on these panels over many years".

"Some of the critics of my appearance did not even know until later on that the Public Service regulations allow the Commission to create interviewing panels, which make sense," he said, noting that he was surprised that eminent lawyers jumped on the "bandwagon without briefing themselves".

"Let me put it this way it is something that would perhaps be closer to the Greek definition of a tragedy in the sense that people with noble motives somehow failed because of some flaw," he said.