Leader of the Opposition, Bishop Joseph Atherley.
The People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PdP) remainsresolute in its believe that the second post of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) does not legitimately exist, and has therefore made it clear that they will not support the appointment that was made at the beginning of this month.
In a virtual press briefing yesterday via Zoom, Maria Phillips, the PdP’s spokesperson on law and governance, indicated that the political party’s decision has nothing to do with the competence of the chosen senior officer, but the fact the appointment was done in a manner that showed “blatant disregard to the rule of law and the transparency of the parliamentary process”.
Adding to that, Leader of the Opposition, Bishop Joseph Atherley said the PdP will contribute to the debate if the matter is brought to Parliament, but will not support it.
“You can’t come and legitimise a process, the basis for which in itself is illegitimate, and use power of numbers in that way. So if the Government brings to Parliament what the AG has publicly indicated that they will, and if they want to premise this thing on this nebulous position of implied repeal, and bring that to the Parliament in the way that the Attorney General has publicly indicated, then we will not support that,” Atherley maintained.
Meanwhile, contending that there is no reasonable justification for the post to be created, Phillips said that the “burden” placed on taxpayers to cover the remuneration of the proposed officer holder should be alleviated by that money being repaid to the Government as soon as possible.
Phillips’ comments came as she threw the party’s support behind veteran trade unionist and the party’s spokesperson on public service matters, Senator Caswell Franklyn, who first brought the discrepancies associated with the creation of a second DCOP post to the public’s attention.
While referencing Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley’s explanation regarding the creation of the post, Phillips, who is an attorney, explained that while the Minister of the Public Service may by Order establish offices in the public sector and determine the number of persons to be appointed, such Orders are subject to affirmative resolution by Parliament. She lamented that it is a “bothersome trend” that parliamentary procedures continue to be ignored.
“This requirement for affirmative resolution according to the Interpretation Act of Barbados, section 41 (5) states that the statutory instruments and documents shall not come into operation, until and unless affirmed by a resolution of each House.
So even though the honourable Prime Minister has stated that the Orders were signed, there is no evidence, even by review of the Order Papers in the Barbados Parliament, that this legislation was laid before the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament and that the Orders were in fact affirmed by a resolution of each House for them to be passed,” she stated.
Phillips said the Mottley Administration also confused the issue, with the Attorney General indicating an amendment would be done once the “strictures” of COVID-19 would allow, which was followed by the Prime Minister’s comments which introduced the concept of implied repeal, asserting that the signed Order repealed the requisite provision within the Police Act.
Adding to Phillips’ comments, Senator Franklyn, adamant that the DCOP post does not exist, called on Government to simply follow the law and keep the particular senior police officer in his substantive post of Assistant Commissioner of Police.
“The post does not exist, Parliament has not approved it. Even if the Prime Minister had the authority to do so – to create the post – she still had to be bring it to Parliament and they have not brought it to Parliament. It is as simple as that…
“Government has to behave better, it must set an example,” Franklyn maintained.