Ministers should have absolute authority — Premier
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has suggested that government ministers should have absolute authority over their respective ministries, making it clear that they should be answerable to the public, not civil servants or other unelected officials.
During a debate on the Public Service Management Bill, Dr Wheatley pointed out that the current system allows for too much ambiguity regarding who holds the power and responsibility within government ministries. He noted that this often leads to a situation where ministers are held responsible by the public for decisions they have little control over.
Dr Wheatley raised concerns that while the public can vote out ministers during elections, they cannot hold other key figures, such as the Governor or Deputy Governor, accountable if they fail to perform their duties. This, he argued, creates a gap in accountability within the government.
“Ministers of government are not their own bosses; their bosses are the people of the Virgin Islands,” Dr Wheatley said. “When the people of the Virgin Islands want to hold them accountable, they’ll send them home if they have to. But can the people of the Virgin Islands send the Governor home? Can the people of the Virgin Islands send the Deputy Governor home?”
PS runs the show
The Premier shared an anecdote from his early days as a minister, highlighting the perception among some public officers that the real power in a ministry lies with the permanent secretary, not the minister.
“A public officer working in the ministry just said to me in confidence… ‘The permanent secretary is really the one who runs the ministry.’ That’s the perception,” Dr Wheatley said, adding that this perception can create obstacles for ministers trying to implement their directives.
The Public Service Management Bill seeks to formalise ministerial authority, making it “absolutely clear” and removing ambiguity. He stressed the importance of establishing a system where ministers can directly engage with and receive advice from their technical experts rather than solely relying on the permanent secretary.
“Some have the perception that the minister should only engage a permanent secretary, but the permanent secretary is an administrator. The minister needs to be advised by his technical experts,” he explained.
Dr Wheatley used the example of the Governor being advised by the police and the Minister of Education needing direct advice from the Chief Education Officer rather than having all communication filtered through the permanent secretary.
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“they should be answerable to the public, not civil servants or other unelected officials.”
So civil servants pay tax as well as unelected officials… how they not considered the public?
Ok Mr. Dictator
Ministers should not have any absolute anything. They must be checked frequently and have limited powers in of themselves. S!0wW@nde and the A$$C!0wn Brigade still need to account for 13 million. If he had absolute power we would never know about the 13 million
While I can agree that Ministers need greater autonomy, I don’t support your call for absolute authority. There ought to be the appropriate checks and balances on the powers given to politicians.
Imagine… checks and balances… law and order… accountability… what a travesty!
RESIGN!
Imagine that it is suggested that Ministers have “absolute” authority. With the shining examples that we have right now, I shudder to think how much worse the state of affairs would be.
HAVE NOT BEEN PREPARED FOR OVER 9 YEARS.
CAN WE PLEASE SEE THESE?
UK IS FAILING IN THEIR OVERSIGHT OF CORRUPT BVI POLITICIANS
With absolute authority comes absolute responsibility SO if a civil servant in any ministry is charged with breach of trust then that minister will also be charged with breach of trust!
I am of the opinion that The Hon Premier is not cognitive of his utterance. There is a disconnect
as evidenced in his lack of sensibility and job performance. He is off the chart. His reality is skewed.
This dude is sounding like Donald Trump. Next he is going to say they should have absolute immunity lol
When has a minister not had the power or authority to summon/invite an expert to a meeting without the PS’s say so? When the PS or any other civil servant offers advice to a minister, there is nothing compelling them to take it. There are past cases where ministers have disregarded such advice.
The Perm Sec is the constant in the civil service so they should have some power. But what is the reason that civil servants can be unproductive and ignore directives without consequence…that’s an issue the for the public to get value their services. Too much bureaucracy defeats the effectiveness of elected leaders sometimes in a good way but many times in bad ways. These are the issues that lead to the ethical systems being broken down in ways that lead to the COI. We need a balance and a reform. And I don’t think the COI recommendations account for the uniqueness oof our island structure.
The last thing we need is less checks and balances.
Our ministers are known and documented to be thieves.
They should be checked by any means neccesary.
This is the same man who frequently says that it is “not in the public interest” to publish anything that he does not want to be held accountable for. He got jokes meh son.
the same ministers that pass greedy bill and give themselves a pay raise on top of that?
now they want to increase our alrdy high taxes its so expensive to buy something outside and its still expensive when you buy locally lool
power hungry and greedy
It has been 8 years since the last accounts were done. When do you think you will start doing this again? Maybe explain his to the UN colonial committee how you keep your financial records?
https://www.auditbvi.com/bvi-financial-statements
I think there needs to be a review and closer look at the law enforcement powers of ALL Government Departments. Then let’s see who should be held accountable in actuality.
Kim yong would agree with our beloved leaders call for total power!
Watered down , no transparency, integrity or honesty blatant corruption!
The Premier has a valid point.
I TOTALLY AGREE! If we do not like a minister we can vote them out. PS and other Senior Officials do complete shit and the worst that happens is they are transferred to another department or Ministry. The Premier is right on this one!
Where is the accountability for all the monies that were given to the ministers to hand out as they saw fit during covid?
We were promised full accountability and as you are the minister of finance please get to work sir.