AFC's Cathy Hughes and Moses Nagamootoo

The opposition party Alliance For Change (AFC) says it will be looking to have the promotion of the Finance Minister’s wife to the position of Director of the Audit Office reversed since it flies in the face of the best practices of financial accountability.

Geetanjalee Singh was appointed to the position at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) with the government using the absence of AFC parliamentarian Trevor Williams to push it through.

Party executive Cathy Hughes told reporters on Wednesday that Singh’s appointment was an “ethical issue” and they will be returning to the PAC to have it reviewed. She noted that the late AFC member Sheila Holder had raised the issue in parliament since 2009 when she asked the Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh what steps he and his wife were prepared to take to ameliorate the appearance of a conflict of interest.

“In most other places in the world this would have been recognised as a deliberate and clear conflict of interest and it would not have occurred,” Hughes stated.

Singh’s appointment was among 11 that day and the party official said she does not believe that there was any problem with the other promotions.

The AFC also accused the government side of erroneously advising the PAC Chairman APNU’s Carl Greenidge that he could not vote on the matter which gave them the majority in Williams’ absence. The composition of the committee sees the AFC having one member, the APNU four and the ruling PPP/C four.

“The review we’re seeking is to have the Public Accounts Committee realise that the manner in which the matter was put to a vote knowing that one member was not there was perhaps a decision based on haste and not trying to get the full involvement of the Committee.

And secondly, as we said the review would show that the Chairman being properly advised at that time then he would have exercised his right to vote, there would have been a stalemate and no decision would have been arrived at until a consensus is worked out,” party executive Moses Nagamootoo said.

Nagamootoo said the PPP/C members misapplied a rule that related to the Select Committees and not the Standing Committees of which the PAC is one.

According to him, they believe that it is an issue that could be taken to the parliament floor since there could be wider implications for the work of the Standing Committees.

On Singh’s appointment Nagamootoo said it was of “cardinal importance” to the integrity of public life.

“Good governance is all about integrity in public life and therefore if this government finds that there is nothing wrong with having the wife of the minister audit the minister for all of the people’s money then it reflects very sadly on the government itself that it has no standard of public behaviour.

I would say that this issue itself requires that the government be put to the test. I would have no reservation if met with the stubbornness of this government that it is served with a notice of no confidence,” Nagamootoo added.