LATER this month, members of the Public Accounts Committee will face a vote of no confidence for… well, what, exactly?

Initially, it was for supposedly acting outside their mandate in the way they were pursuing the Wales Audit Office report. Since HM Procureur had already stated that while the committee might have stretched things they were just within it, that accusation might have been hard to make stick.

More lately, it is for supposedly being disrespectful to the Assembly in that while members would not speak during a debate, the PAC’s chairman had the temerity to comment afterwards to the media.

From what is emerging from States circles, the real aim of the confidence vote is to unseat PAC’s chairman, Deputy Leon Gallienne, not the rest of the team.

Quite why is also unclear. Members knew what they were getting when they elected him and he is the same man today. In terms of what he is doing on PAC, the spending watchdog, his members seem to be happy and the public perception will be one of A-plus for effort.

So what happens at the end of the month when the States meet will be revealing. Is this a genuine move to remove someone clearly in the wrong post – and that would be a milestone for government – or an attempt to shut up someone who won’t let go of the WAO’s nought out of 10 report on how the Assembly performs?

For anyone not part of the club of 47, the important thing would be to acknowledge the severity of the criticism of the WAO’s findings – not one of six good governance criteria ticked – and take speedy steps to rectify the deficiencies.

Instead, the matter has become a battle to preserve the status quo rather than looking to see what better ways there are of doing things for the benefit of Guernsey.

Add to that the start of a witch hunt against the man whose job is to insist on value for money for taxpayers and the picture is really rather bleak.

What the confidence vote will actually do is highlight those deputies interested in the island’s best interests versus those pursuing personal agendas.