Malice towards none? Rethinking civil-service appointments

Delano Seiveright, Contributor

A Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporter expressed, last month by email to G2K, serious concerns about what he believed were People's National Party (PNP) activists and supporters occupying leading and sensitive posts in the civil service and wider public sector and who were intent on sabotaging the policies and initiatives of this still new JLP government.

The message, in part, said: "Remember that what really matters is not the cost to say goodbye to some people who will never support you. What really matters is the cost to keep them, in terms of salary, bad advice, undermining you, leaking information, failing to carry out policy decisions, employing and keeping their friends who also do not support you, and making speeches that undermine you."

As is the norm, the message was circulated as a 'special note' via G2K's BlackBerry Messenger to its huge database of contacts, most of them G2K members, in order to get feedback, and, if necessary, form a policy position.

Varying perspectives have been advanced, but the overwhelming majority of responses have leaned heavily on the need to radically rethink a newly elected government's modus operandi upon attaining political office. There is tremendous criticism about the Golding admini-stration's approach so far.

PAST EXPERIENCES

Historically, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) governments do not appear to have a track record of adjusting the senior ranks of the civil service and the wider public sector upon assuming office to be in a position to better govern. This is the norm in many countries. The Most Honourable Edward Seaga, upon his taking up of the office of prime minister following the turbulent 1980 general election, called for and executed a "malice towards none" approach.

This popular refrain originated from United States of America President Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address in March 1865 following a civil war that tore the country apart. Lincoln sought to unite the US through peaceful and generous means. President Lincoln was assassinated just over a month later.

FLAWED POSITION?

Perspectives vary as to whether Edward Seaga's approach was indeed successful. Many argue that Jamaica was itself in a state of virtual civil war in the 1970s and Seaga's approach was spot on and deserving of immense commend-ation. With a landslide victory by the JLP then, and almost complete control of the House of Rep-resentatives following the 1983 snap election, Mr Seaga could have easily re-engineered the civil service and the wider public sector to do his bidding.

The Golding administration appears to have taken the same malice-towards-none approach as Seaga. Many argue that this is a flawed position and needs urgent change. The circumstances today are wholly different than in 1980. Upon assuming office in September 2007, the Golding administration continues to retain known activists and supporters of the PNP in key positions throughout the civil service and the wider public sector.

Of course, neither I nor G2K in any way support the removal of PNP activists and supporters from government service for purely political reasons. One should be untroubled as long as one lawfully and diligently carries out one's duties in accordance with the prescribed policies and efforts of the ruling administration.

URGENT ADJUSTMENTS REQUIRED

The Golding administration, however, needs to, as a matter of urgency, seek to make adjustments. The PNP formed governments over and over again for just under 19 consecutive years between 1989 and 2007. It is no secret that the civil service and the wider public sector increased its staff com-plement by tens of thousands, which added to an ever-increasing wage bill during this period. This followed the immense growth of the civil service and the wider public sector under the socialist PNP administrations led by Michael Manley in the 1970s. Hence our concerns about the value of Seaga's malice-towards-none approach.

Anyone who believes that after close to 19 consecutive years of power by the same administration no changes are necessary in key areas of the civil service and public sector is deluding himself. The high levels of corruption, misman-agement, and poorly formulated government policies of the previous PNP administrations had to have been supported by key civil servants, technocrats, and public-sector agency management teams. Further, it is widely known that the Golding administration grapples with passively resistant and obstructionist behaviour from some technocrats. This stifles the effective and speedy execution of critical government policies, initiatives, and ultimately destroys public confidence in the administration.

RECOMMENDED CHANGES

Some radical rethinking is now necessary if the administration wants to optimise its performance to the benefit of the people of Jamaica. I am a strong believer in elected governments being given an opportunity to carefully and within strict guidelines adjust key areas of the civil service and the wider public sector to optimise performance and efficiency.

It is an absolute waste of time and a waste of precious resources to work with the inherited and stagnant status quo. A change in government must mean giving the newly elected administration the latitude to change key personnel. Here are some suggestions that are certainly worthy of consideration:

1. A change of president in the US comes with a change of key personnel. The US president can appoint in the region of 8,000 officials, including ambassadors, advisers, agency heads, and so on. With proposals for term limits and fixed election dates in Jamaica now moving forward, we can seriously consider this option. A critical issue here is that the contracts of many civil servants and public-sector leaders overlap the change of administration. The upside with this approach is the lessened ability to blame a government's failure on 'civil servants' and 'the public sector'.

2. In Canada, permanent secretaries are appointed by respective government ministers. Of course, appointments are made on merit and incumbents are usually reappointed. This option deserves serious consideration in light of the circumstances here that favour the Opposition PNP. The permanent secretaries are without doubt the most powerful persons in the civil service; indifference, obstructionist behaviour, and passive resistance can spell immediate doom for government policies and initiatives in the respective ministries. This appears to be a major problem for the Golding administration.

3. The United Kingdom, from which we model our civil service, has gone through a series of changes to give elected governments latitude to perform effectively. The Tony Blair-led Labour government elected in 1997, after 18 years in the political wilderness, was in no mood to fail. Special advisers (politically appointed) were given the power to act as line managers, and give instructions to civil servants. Newly elected Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government has already appointed at least 82 special advisers and political aides just months in office now. It is believed that the real number is far higher.

4. Open up for competition oppor-tunities for persons outside the civil service and the wider public sector to fill senior roles, including that of permanent secretary. This will fast-track the critical and desperate need for renewal and new thinking in the civil service and wider public sector. Bright and talented Jamaicans here and overseas must be given an opportunity to fill key positions, irrespective of whether they served in a government role.

5. Ministers need to be given a 'constrained' choice in the selection of persons to fill senior positions in the civil service and wider public sector.

6. As is becoming the norm across the world, term limits for permanent secretaries and other lead civil-service positions have taken root. In Singapore, permanent secretaries are limited to 10 years, while in Ireland, they are limited to seven. In Nigeria, permanent secretaries are now given a four-year term with an opportunity to renew only once. Not only is this a boost for renewal, but it opens up opportunities to hard-working and effective civil servants and others, such as private-sector leaders and managers, to become involved in the process of governance.

7. Make it mandatory for persons seeking to fill sensitive positions to go before a bipartisan parliamentary committee with the input of civil society under the glare of the media to be intensively questioned before appointments are finalised. No different to what is standard procedure in the US.

Giving elected governments in Jamaica more leeway in civil-service and public-sector appointments can no doubt be alarming. Our chequered history of political tribalism and polarisation can be used to discount the proposals. However, no one is advocating anything of the likes of the 'Pickersgill Accreditation Committee' of the 1970s, nor the 'genetically connected PNP' ethos of the most recent PNP administrations. Further yet, we must seek to strengthen the offices of the contractor general, auditor general, and director of public prosecutions, and fast-track legislation for the establishment of the prosecutor general to ward off those with bad intentions. What is important is that the people of Jamaica can confidently elect a government and punish it if it fails, knowing full well that it was given the latitude to effect the changes on which they so heavily campaigned.

Delano Seiveright is president of Generation 2000 (G2K), the young professional affiliate of the Jamaica Labour Party.