The rotation of Foreign Services officers is of paramount importance to the Government and a system is currently being developed to ensure these individuals do not serve in the same diplomatic position for more than three years.

This was expressed by President David Granger during the recording of his weekly television programme, “The Public Interest.”

The Head-of- State is of the view that if a diplomat is kept in his or her position too long, that person tends to “lose their effectiveness”.

As such, reasoned that these persons should not be serving in the same position for more than three years, and that is what the government is currently working towards.

“We are looking now to ensure that there is a system in place to ensure people would not spend more than about three years” he said.

He reasoned that it is very important that these persons be rotated between different capitals and also between Guyana and those very capitals since it provides an opportunity for them to learn more about diplomacy.

“You cannot appoint a person to a high diplomatic position without allowing that person to understand what international diplomacy is all about” the President stated.

According to him, the present crop of diplomats would be understudied by professional Foreign Service officers, and in the fullness of time, he expects a “purely professional” foreign service.

“This is what we’re aiming at and I am very confident that we will be able to achieve the goal of having a professional foreign service within three to five years.”

He also weighed in on how the previous administration managed the foreign services, highlighting that some diplomats were kept in the same position for as long as 20 years.

Additionally, the President pointed out that the previous Government inherited a core of professionals, who were qualified, but they were replaced with political appointees.

“It was clear that they [the new appointees] did not have the same grasp of foreign policy” President Granger said.

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