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Former Police Service Commission chairman Nizam Mohammed says the body is “totally dysfunction” because there is “far too much political interference” in the commission.
Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday after the Parliament rejected the nomination of PSC top nominee Deodat Dulalchan for the Commissioner of Police post and referred the matter back to the PSC,
Mohammed said the “malfunctioning of the PSC is only one example of the breakdown and the virtual collapse of national institutions and government agencies.”
He said there is the need for “re-examination of the structure of the commission and the way it operates.”
Mohammed said some years ago “the PSC was taken out of the umbrella arrangements of the Public Service Commission” and under the new arrangement it allowed for “too much political interference and such interference has caused the Police Service Commission to be totally dysfunctional.”
He said serious consideration should be given to “restoring the Police Service Commission to its original framework of operations, even though it may be expedient to have it function independently of the Public Service Commission.”
That will require Legislative change by the Parliament, he said.
However, Mohammed is of the view that “the continuing failing system suits the politicians.”
But he said if the commission is to meet its mandate the legislative framework must be reviewed “with a view to making the Police Service Commission properly constituted to be functioning on a full-time basis.”
Mohammed said a “properly constituted PSC with the requisite independence can be capable of selecting a police commissioner from time to time and other senior executive posts.
He said the commission, in its current form, has “clearly demonstrated that a part-time casual approach to its responsibilities is unworkable.”