HOME	JUNE 26th, 2004

JUNE 26

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it had no input in the recent appointments of former House Speaker Sir Curtis Strachan and President of the Senate Sir. John Watts as Consultants to Parliament.

This was disclosed at a press conference by Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the NDC, Nazim Burke who is also the Member of Parliament for the St. George's North-east constituency.

Burke said that the opposition members only heard about the appointments which were made by Governor General Sir. Daniel Williams through a local media bulletin.

According to the announcement, Sir Curtis and Sir John will provide consultancy and related services on a continuous basis by way of advice on the operations of the Grenada Parliament. The release said that the two will also assist in the general process of Parliamentary Democracy, upon request from either the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or any other Member of Parliament.

The arrangement also calls for Sir Curtis and Sir John to design and facilitate regular seminars for all Members of Parliament with the objective of enhancing parliamentary knowledge and skills.

Burke said with all due respect to the two individuals, the opposition members do not intend to become puppets in what he described as a little game being played by the ruling New National Party (NNP) administration of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell.

Sir Curtis, who is known to be close to the Grenadian leader, previously served as Clerk of Parliament for over 35 years and as Speaker for over 7 years. He was twice honoured by Queen Elizabeth in 1985 and 1996 for outstanding public service.

In the case of Sir John, he is a senior figure within the ruling party.
Burke said that the congress party is not aware if Sir. John and Sir Curtis are willing to offer some free advice to parliament.

He stated that while the NDC heard about their appointments as Consultants, it did not know for how long, as well as the salaries that will be paid to them. Burke, a Barrister at-Law by profession, indicated that the opposition members of parliament, have not been told anything about the terms of their employment and the Government Side expect them to endorse the appointments.

"We do not support that kind of practice in principle. We would not simply come and endorse that appointment. We would not be part of any little game that is being played by this administration", he said.