The question is not, fundamentally, about Marcia Forbes' qualifications or competence, of which her defence is compelling.

There is a legitimate issue, raised by the Opposition, of whether the Government may appear to have rewarded a supporter with a critical civil service job and how this may impact on her effectiveness in her role as permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mining and Telecommunications, headed by Derrick Smith.

Or, looked at another way, the issue again raises the question of how Jamaica, in a divisive political culture, utilises its best human talent, and what kinds of systems may be put in place to prevent sapping and often distracting quarrels when people of presumed political stripes are appointed to top jobs in the public sector.

As Mrs Forbes has pointed out, she is near to completing her doctorate at the University of the West Indies, having submitted a thesis on sex in the media, substantial portions of which have been published and referenced in the press.

A natural fit

She has managed one of the island's two free-to-air television stations and, for years, ran a family-owned television and film production company. By background and experience, Mrs Forbes would be a natural fit in a ministry where telecommunications and information technology issues will be part of her core responsibilities. She will do a good non-partisan job.

Yet, it is well known, too, that during last year's general election campaign, she was a key member of the then Opposition Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) communications and advertising team, a job for which no one could question her qualifications and, if the quality of the JLP's campaign advertisements and media management is any guide, her competence.

In the circumstance, it ought not to be surprising that a year on, the People's National Party (PNP), now in opposition, and even some independents question her appointment to what is a top executive post in the newly created mining and telecommunications ministry.

PSC dismissal

Nor is it surprising that some people are making a link between Mrs Forbes' hiring by a Public Service Commission (PSC) that Prime Minister Bruce Golding installed after he fired the last one after it failed to capitulate to his rejection of the appointment of Professor Stephen Vasciannie as solicitor general and demand that the PSC overturn the decision. The matter of the dismissal of the PSC is now before the court.

A main plank of Mr Golding's election campaign was for a return to governance based on openness and transparency and embedded in decency.

Implied in this agenda was the recreation of a professional, non-political civil service, along the lines of the best of the Westminster model, which the former administration was accused of corrupting.

In that context, it is not unreasonable to ask, as the PNP has done, whether the post to which Mrs Forbes has been appointed was advertised - she said she "heard" of a vacancy and applied - and how many persons were shortlisted for interviews.

The issue, though, has to move beyond this specific appointment and Mrs Forbes to a full and frank debate about the structure of government and the constitutional framework within which the country manages its affairs. We start on the basis of the Constitution being as it is now and has to be respected, but that does not mean we have to be ossified.