General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) and Opposition Leader Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has called out President David Granger over his remarks when he said he does not believe that the Courts should be “paralysed by the behaviour of one person,” referring to Jagdeo’s rejection of the nominees – Justice Kenneth Benjamin and Justice Yonnette Cummings-Edwards- for the substantive posts of Chancellor and Chief Justice respectively.
Jagdeo said it is his constitutional right to object to the appointment of any nominee if he has sufficient belief that a better candidate could be appointed.
He maintained that a careful decision was taken after his due diligence process not to agree to the appointments of Justice Kenneth Benjamin and Yonette Cummings-Edwards as Guyana’s next substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice respectfully.
The President had said, among other things, that even though the Constitution requires the approval of the Leader of the Opposition for the nominees to be appointed, “it is not desirable to continue the current practice of ‘acting’ which existed for several years and I would like to have a substantive appointment. It’s a question of necessity.”
According to Jagdeo however, the President’s remarks are not only “disingenuous, it is downright dishonest.”
Jagdeo recalled that for 12 years, the People’s National Congress and the A Partnership for National Unity never agreed to a substantive appointment in the Judiciary as a whole, especially to the posts of Chancellor and the Chief Justice.
He rhetorically questioned if “that did not paralyse the Judiciary?”
Therefore, “to say now that my decision not to agree to his nominees will paralyse the Judiciary is dishonest” the Opposition leader posited.
