Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, today said he has no plan to respond to President Irfaan Ali’s request for consultation on the appointment of the Acting Chief Justice, Roxane George to the position of Acting Chancellor, while the Acting Chancellor proceeds on leave, and for recently appointed Justice of Appeal, Narendra Singh to be appointed Acting Chief Justice.

Mr. Norton told reporters that the Government is not acting in a fair manner with the Acting appointments.

“One would have thought that if the Government was going to operate in a fair way, they would have taken one of the senior Judges to become the Acting Chief Justice, because they say they will make the present Acting Chief Justice, the Acting Chancellor, and then they recommend to me one of the junior Judges who the general view is, has links to the People’s Progressive Party and may not necessarily operate based on the rule of law. But there are other Judges who are senior to him and no consideration was given to them”, he said.

The Opposition Leader explained that the Acting appointments do not require the agreement of the Opposition Leader, as is required for substantive appointments. He said he does not believe the President is capable of “meaningful consultation”.

“Because it [the constitution] does not demand agreement like the substantive appointment, it demands meaningful consultation. Now, Irfaan Ali has not shown the ability to consult, much less meaningfully, and so, I thought it would have been a waste of time,” Norton said.

Norton said his response could have been interpreted as “meaningful consultation,” as such, in a strategic move; he opted not to respond to the President.

For a Chancellor and Chief Justice to be appointed, there must be agreement between the President and the Opposition Leader as required by the Constitution. Norton had long called for the Acting Chancellor and the Acting Chief Justice to be confirmed in their positions, but the President has not budged on his recommendations and the two Acting appointments have remained throughout his Presidency.

Justice Cummings has been the acting Chancellor since 2017. She took over from Justice Carl Singh, who acted from 2005-2017. Justice George has also been acting as Chief Justice since 2017.

Mr. Norton said with Elections just over a month away, he thought the President would have gone in another direction.

“One would have thought that with elections under a month away, he would not have gone in that direction, however, we expect to be in government and those are issues that we can deal with,” Norton said.

The Attorney General Anil Nandlall has said with no response from the Opposition Leader, the President can now proceed with the appointments of the acting Chancellor and acting Chief Justice.

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