ST. VINCENT-Opposition leader against the appointment of the former senator as House Clerk

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Opposition Leader Goodwin Friday opposes Senator Deborah “Debbie” Charles’s appointment to the Clerk of the House of Assembly and has officially complained to the chair of the Public Service Commission.

Charles, whose five-year stint as a senator for the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) ended in November 2020, replaced Nicole Herbert, who recently retired.

In making his case against Charles, who was also a candidate for the ULP in the 2015 and 2020 General Elections, Friday cited the Constitution, which states that “the office of the Clerk of the House and the offices of the members of his staff shall be public offices.”

Friday, a lawyer noted that unlike the Speaker of the House of Assembly, which can come from among the partisan members, the Constitution clearly states that the Clerk must be a public servant.

“I wish to record here that we on this side of the house have grave reservations and concerns about the appointment of the present holder of the Office of Clerk to that position,” Friday told lawmakers.

He said Charles, no matter how she may try to appear impartial, was recently a candidate in the elections, competing against an opposition member and recently held the “very partisan position” of a senator in this house, “combating” members of the opposition.

“And we’re asked to believe today that the mere changing of a robe for the usual garb of a house member will transform that person into an impartial performer in the office of Clerk of the House.”

Friday said it is “regrettable” that Charles was appointed to the position, and he announced “for transparency” that he had written to the PSC about the appointment.

“… because it affects how this honorable house functions, and certainly will affect how members on this side of the house will regard the Office of the Clerk of the House.”

Friday, an MP since 2001, said he had approached the Office of the Clerk of the House “without any fear, or any doubt about the propriety of the responses or the assistance that might be given.”

“And it is necessary for me as the Leader of the Opposition and someone who seeks to uphold the integrity of this chamber and the efficiency of the work done here to raise that matter and put it on the record in this honorable house.

He said he was expecting a response from the chair of the PSC.

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, however, defended the appointment of Charles, saying that besides elected members and senators, the Speaker and the Clerk are two critical constitutional offices “touching and concerning [the] management” of the House of Assembly.

He noted that the Clerk has a critical role in the house outside of the Speaker’s authority in that if, after 21 days of the filing of a motion of no confidence, the Speaker does not summon the house, the Clerk is obliged under the law to call the place to debate the motion.

“It doesn’t talk about any partisanship; she has to do it,” the prime minister said, even while noting that the position of Speaker is higher than that of the Clerk and pointing to past instances where people who contested general elections were appointed Speaker, including Nolwyn McDowall, who he defeated in North Central Windward in 1998.

Gonsalves remarked that the concerns about Charles’ appointment “is something in their mind, not about Deborah Charles,” adding that the statement goes “towards the core, the essence of the integrity of this woman, as a mother, as someone who was a teacher, molded children, a principal of a school and on no occasion that anyone can say that there was any evidence in her of malice, spite or bad mindedness.”

But Friday maintained that “it’s an appointment that should never have been made because it clouds the office with a taint of political partisanship, which we’ve never had to worry about in this honorable chamber,” adding that he would also address the matter elsewhere.