Last Monday, the House of Representatives voted by a majority of 19 votes and 13 abstentions to appoint Gary Griffith as Commissioner of Police. The process that was approved in 2006 when the People’s National Movement and the United National Congress parliamentarians of the day came together to create this new system worked after some hiccups.
In removing the secrecy of the Prime Minister and the Police Service Commission (PSC) having their own back and forth to find someone suitable to a sitting Prime Minister behind closed doors, there was the full transparency of a debate and a vote-no more secrecy.
Those 30 MPs who voted for this process on Monday, March 27, 2006, according to pages 106 and 107 of the Hansard for the House of Representatives for that day were:
K. Valley, P. Manning, K. Rowley, C. Imbert, J. Narine, R. Boynes, P. Beckles, J. Rahael, A. Roberts, H. Bereaux, E. James, E. Hart, S. Callender, D. Seukeran, E. Job-Davis, F. Hinds, F. Khan, L. Achong, E. Williams, G. Singh, W. Dookeran, K. Persad-Bissessar, M. Ramsaran, H. Rafeeq, C. Sharma, A. Nanan, N. Baksh, R. Moonilal, F. Khan and G. Lucky.
They have provided the country with a process that allows for far greater public awareness about the process to choose a Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners of Police than had previously been the case.
There were concerns about the process when it first started because of the potential to produce a foreigner as a Commissioner or Deputy Commissioners of Police. That was a matter of some debate when Canadian Dwayne Gibbs was chosen as Commissioner of Police in 2010. According to the Hansard for the House of Representatives for July 2, 2010, the People’s Partnership MPs of the day supported the notification for Gibbs, while the then PNM Opposition MPs abstained.
Fast forward to last Monday, the PNM MPs voted for Gary Griffith and the UNC MPs held the party line and abstained. The actual history of the process that has produced three votes for a Commissioner of Police over the last ten years has ended up with the following results:
1. July 4, 2008 - Stephen Williams nominated for Commissioner of Police and negatived by the House of Representatives (22 MPs against and 10 in favour).
2 July 2, 2010 - Dwayne Gibbs nominated for Commissioner of Police and approved by the House of Representatives (25 MPs in favour and 11 abstained).
3. July 30, 2018 - Gary Griffith nominated for Commissioner of Police and approved by the House of Representatives (19 MPs in favour and 13 abstained).
Slowly but surely, the process is beginning to grind its way into some kind of functionality on a transparent basis.
The fact is that no longer can a Prime Minister refuse a nomination from the PSC behind closed doors. The entire process undertaken by the PSC can be made public (as happened in this case) and elected parliamentarians are called to account.
The PSC previously had to deal with a foreign agency (Penn State University) doing the assessment and recommendation of persons for the job. After the departure of Dwayne Gibbs in 2012, the PSC did not source an agency to undertake a fresh search for whatever reason, because the Government (the Executive branch) cannot do it.
After December 2015, the possibility of a foreigner becoming Commissioner of Police was greatly reduced by the effect of a Legal Notice that changed some of the fundamentals associated with the process. It really does not matter whether a foreigner or a local citizen becomes the Commissioner of Police. What matters is really their ability to demonstrate the leadership and competence required to do the job.
However, before anyone can get the job, they must be able to earn the political favour of a majority of elected MPs in the House of Representatives by whatever criteria that that majority seeks to use in arriving at their collective decision.
Last Monday, both the Government and the Opposition were able to demonstrate political discipline in different ways. For the Government MPs, the whip was lifted and they all supported the nominee. For the Opposition, there was a whip in place and it held for the actual vote, despite some post-vote remorse from a few opposition MPs.
Political discipline is alive and well and the process worked - eventually. Now the challenge is there for Griffith to turn the crime situation around.