The sweeping amendment to Article 210 of the constitution has severely reduced the President’s role in the appointment of the Police Service Commission and the government is said to be unhappy with these restrictions.

The article was amended by the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 3) Act 2001 to establish a five-member commission.

In the appointment of the members, the President’s role is restricted to the appointment of the chairman, after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, from among the four members nominated for appointment by the National Assembly.

The National Assembly appointed the four persons after consultation with the Police Associations of present and retired officers.

The Office of the President is reportedly uneasy with this arrangement now that it has been apprised of it.

The arrangement was brought to its attention when President Jagdeo consulted with the Leader of the Opposition on the appointment of the Police Service Commission and the other service commissions.

However, observers of the constitution reform process say that the amendment in the 2001 act was in line with the recommendation of the Constitution Reform Commission that there was a need for the attenuation of the wide range of powers given to the President by the Constitution.

PNCR sources have told Stabroek News that approaches have been made to it to agree to an amendment to the arrangements that would allow the President to appoint three members in his own deliberate judgement, thus expanding the commission to an eight-member commission.

Government sources have told Stabroek News that the President wants to appoint three other members after consultations with the Leader of the Opposition.

In his broadcast to the nation on August 18, PNCR leader Robert Corbin said that the President seemed unhappy with the present arrangements for appointing the Police Service Commission and was seeking to clarify the constitutional position.

Stabroek News understands that the President was under the impression that he was involved in more than the appointment of the chairman of the commission after he has meaningfully consulted with the Leader of the Opposition.

The constitutional provisions before they were amended, provided for the Police Commission to be comprised of a chairman who was to be selected from among not more than three members appointed by the President after consultations with the then Minority Leader, the chairman of the Public Service Commission, and a member appointed after the President consulted with such a body as appears to him to represent the majority of the members of the Police Force.

The present arrangements vary from the recommendation of the Parliament Oversight Committee on Constitutional Reform which had recommended in addition to the four members appointed by the National Assembly, that the President appoint three other members after he had consulted with the Leader of the Opposition.

Members of the Appointive Committee of the National Assembly have told Stabroek News that they were of the opinion that both government and opposition members of the committee are aware of the size of the commission and its make-up. They said that they gleaned this impression from the discussion on the committee about the bodies to be consulted.

However, in the end the committee only consulted the Police Association, the body that represents the majority of policemen.

The motion identifying the bodies to be consulted had also named the Association of Former Members of the Police Force as well as the National Community Policing Executive.