President David Granger on Wednesday confirmed his unwillingness to confirm the two judges who have been acting in the capacity of Chief Justice and Chancellor respectively since last year, as he declared that he was sticking with his original nominees for those posts even though they have been rejected by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.
The Guyana Constitution does not allow the President to confirm a substantive Chief Justice or Chancellor without the agreement of the holder of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.
President Granger on Wednesday continued to pour cold water on the criticism that his Government is facing for its inability to strike a compromise with the Opposition Leader on candidates.
Justice Yvonne Cummings-Edwards is the current acting Chancellor while Justice Roxane George is acting in the capacity of Chief Justice.
The President’s nominee for the post of Chancellor is Justice Kenneth Benjamin and for Chief Justice, Justice Cummings-Edwards.
Jagdeo has hinted several times that he was willing to have dialogue to arrive at a more suitable consensus candidate, who would enjoy the full confidence of the entire Judiciary and political corps.
Asked whether he was inclined to support Justices Cummings-Edwards and George to be confirmed as the country’s next Chancellor and Chief Justice respectively, President Granger dodged the question, signalling an outright unwillingness to even entertain the idea.
“I am inclined to support the Constitution. The Constitution makes it clear, very clear, how the Chancellor has to be appointed. I don’t have the authority to go outside of the Constitution … Everything I have done is according to the Constitution. If other people can tell me what part of the Constitution empowers them, I would like to become aware with them myself.”
The Head of State’s comments come on the heels of calls within the Diaspora, the legal fraternity and pressure from the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) to fill the top two posts in the Judiciary, which would restore complete confidence in their remit and the Judiciary’s ability to pilot reforms.
President Granger instead is standing by his nominees Justices Benjamin and Cummings-Edwards – for the substantive posts of Chancellor and Chief Justice respectively.
Asked further if he intended to replace Justice Benjamin with another nominee, Granger responded in the negative.
“I took my time in making that decision, and I am not prepared to throw it out of the window,” he said.
Meanwhile, when asked of his intentions to meet with Jagdeo to discuss the matter, the President said, “I have other business to discuss with him: the appointment of the Chairman of the Public Service Commission and some other Commissions and when Parliament gives me those names, I will put all of those on the agenda for the meeting.”
Guyana’s last Chancellor was Justice Desiree Bernard, who resigned to join the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in 2005 and its last substantive Chief Justice was Justice Carl Singh.
