GPSU challenges Mohandatt Goolsarran’s nomination to PSC

…“an attempt to sabotage work of Govt” – AG

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has moved to challenge the nomination and appointment of Mohandatt Goolsarran as a member of the recently sworn-in Public Service Commission (PSC), but Attorney General Anil Nandlall has described the move as an attempt to sabotage the work of the Government.
Goolsarran, currently Chairman of the National Accreditation Council, was formerly Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD). He was one of two nominees that the National Assembly had settled on for the PSC, having been nominated by the Guyana Public Service Senior Staff Association (GPSSA).

The GPSSA and the GPSU are organisations which the National Assembly has recognised, as per the Constitution, to submit nominees for positions on the PSC.
During his programme of “Issues in the News”, Nandlall revealed that the basis for the GPSU’s challenge is that the GPSSA is not certified by the Trade Union Recognition Board.
However, the AG argued that this contention is “immaterial”, since the Constitution does not speak about the need for the National Assembly to consult with a trade union in coming up with nominees for the PSC.
Nandlall outlined that the Constitution provides, among other things, that “two members are to be appointed by the President upon nomination of the National Assembly, after it has consulted such bodies as appear to it to represent public officers or class of public officers.
“…not trade unions representing classes of public officers. So, whether this body is registered under the Trade Union Act or has complied with some provisions in the Trade Union Recognition Act is completely immaterial. It could be a friendly society, is could be a religious organisation, it could be a co-op society, it could be a limited liability company…the Constitution says ‘bodies’, it didn’t say trade union,” Nandlall explained.
In fact, Nandlall asserted that the GPSSA has been established since 2002, and is registered under the relevant laws; and moreover, the National Assembly had, some ten years ago, passed a resolution confirming its recognition of the organisation as a body with which it can consult, or can submit nominees as per the Constitution.
Nandlall in fact emphasised that this body has been submitting nominees for over 20 years now. “And no one has ever questioned the qualifications of this body… to make this nomination. No one, for the past 20 years…[now] we’ve received legal proceedings filed by the Guyana Public Service Union, challenging the legal authority and competence of this body, the [GPSSA], to send a nominee,” Nandlall argued.
“After 20 years, the GPSU suddenly awakes from a slumber and begins now to challenge, legally, the qualification of this body to send a nominee,” he expressed. He noted that, in his view, “this is a disguised attempt to sabotage constitutional democracy, and to sabotage the work of the Government.”
As recent as last week, President Dr Irfaan Ali swore in six members of the PSC. In addition to Goolsarran, other members are Manniram Prashad, Maurice Gajadhar, Melcita Bovell, Chandrawati Ramson and Janice Bowen. Bowen was the other National Assembly nominee. These members have been appointed to serve for a period of three years.
The PSC is a constitutional body responsible for overseeing the Public Service in Guyana. Its composition and functions are outlined in Articles 200 to 205, as stated in Article 135(1) of the Constitution. (G11)