Confirmation of Chancellor and Chief Justice held up by politics
Confirmation of the acting Chancellor of the Judiciary and acting Chief Justice may have to wait a while longer. Guyana has been without a substantive chancellor for more than a decade.
The two senior judicial officers have been acting in their respective capacities for years. There is still uncertainty about required constitutional talks between President Irfaan Ali and Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon.
Former President David Granger and then Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo did not meet to discuss these appointments and now, whether or not President Ali and Opposition Leader Harmon will deviate from that norm and make the confirmations is still up in the air.
On Wednesday, when asked about the constitutional talks aimed at confirming the two officers, the President responded “Can you update me on whether Mr Harmon has changed his position in relation to the way he sees the government”.
The Opposition Leader has multiple times said that he does not recognise the government, Ali has used this to say he cannot meet with the opposition because of their lack of recognition.
The Opposition Leader is on the record publicising a letter he sent to the President in September, that correspondence did not benefit from a response.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall when asked to weigh in on the issue called for mutual respect to prevail.
“If the President extends an invitation to Mr Harmon and Mr Harmon views the President as an illegal president, how will there be an engagement”? Nandlall questioned.
The AG said the process requires both sides to meet.
“ LOP continues to take a strange and bizarre position that the government is illegal. The quicker he jumps off that ridiculous horse he is riding it is better for the country,” Nandlall told the media.
Meanwhile, the Head of State is expected to meet former presidents next week. President Ali had extended an invitation to the former presidents and on Thursday, he said he is optimistic that the meeting would be successful.
