Ahluwalia To Be Given New USP VC Contract: 13 On Council Say Yes

Thirteen members of the University of the South Pacific have voted in favour of providing a new contract to the former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia.

This was one of the six recommendations tabled yesterday at the Council meeting by Nauru.

Voting on the first three took place yesterday while voting on the last three recommendations would take place next Thursday.

The recommendations and implications:

1. New contract to be issued to Prof Pal without going through the recruitment process

2. Where would he be based?

3. What would the period of his appointment be?

4. Review of Prof Pal’s performance

5. Who would the VC report to?

6. General employment of all expatriates by USP, meaning in the event any USP Council member country revokes the work permit of a staff member to which country could he or she be relocated?

Apart from this, it has also been decided that an Ethics Committee will be set up to look into complaints against the Pro-Chancellor Winston Thompson and Chair of Council’s Audit and Risk Committee Mahmood Khan for holding a press conference with local media.

The Council meets again next Thursday. However, given that this has come down to being a numbers game, there are indications that the last three recommendations would also be endorsed.