He made the comment during Thursday's sitting of the National Assembly in relation to the report on the appointment to members of the service commissions including the names of Leslie Melville and Dr Kissoon for the Public Service Commission. A motion to adopt the report was carried at a sitting on November 24, but members of the opposition declined to vote.

Chairman of the Appointive Committee, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Gail Teixeira, had alleged that some mischief was to blame for the changes made to the report after the final position was agreed upon.

PNCR MP James McAllister had blamed the members of the ruling party for the sabotage.

Ramkarran said that his investigations revealed that instructions were given for the draft report, approved by the committee with two minor amendments, to be prepared for distribution to MPs. "There appeared to be no necessity to check the report upon completion as the final draft had already been closely perused and the amendments were minor. In addition the staff involved had other urgent responsibilities to discharge in relation to the business of the National Assembly," Ramkarran said.

But he said the two minor amendments were made to an earlier draft of the report, rather than the final draft.

As a result of this, the earlier draft, amended as instructed, was circulated to the National Assembly.

"The staff of [the] Parliament Office would like me to convey their regret at the error and the resulting inconvenience caused to Members of Parliament," Ramkarran said.