No reference made to any comparable constitutional scenario

Feb 07, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
A history-making judicial coup, a pyrrhic political achievement, a devastating embarassment to decision-making of any kind in this country, but most immediately to that of the standard of jurisprudence in the Caribbean Region (on which the CCJ is bound to comment); not to mention, to the underpinnings of Constitutional law throughout the Commonwealth.
Perhaps it is the recognition of the above that has bowed the membership of the Guyana Bar Association into a silence – which albeit admits to the schizophrenia inherent in their profession.
One taxi driver posed a simplistic question: as to how acceptable would be the most recent contentious ruling by the Chief Justice (acting) if either parties were in the other’s place. It is a question left for the pontificators to ponder.
But perhaps a more intricate proposition is how well read are those persons who expound, of the relevant provisions of the Constitution. They would discover, then speak to the distribution, not only of power, but also of responsibilities to be shared amongst partners in governance. The Executive is but one partner, a status it certainly recognises when, for example, it seeks the agreement of the opposition to appoint the two highest positions in the Judiciary, as specifically provided by the Constitution.
It would be improper for any one to suggest any nuance of hard feelings in this particular exercise as they say: ‘it’s only business’. However, it is certainly worth inviting attention to the incontestable fact that the Budget is more than just a set of numbers. Those who would not have studied a copy of the National Estimates would probably not fully comprehend that the statistics are not just about projects like roads, buildings and other infrastructure. It is pre-eminently about people, about the appointment of personnel with skills and competencies adequate to the expected deliverables of each budget agency.
Is there the slightest implication that the performance of any public servant does not fall within the ultimate purview of the National Assembly? If there is then someone will have to come up with a convincing argument why the Executive and the opposition should share oversight of the performance of budget agencies at least at the level the Public Accounts Committee, and the Economic Services Committee, to the former of which the Auditor General, a Constitutional position responds.
One legal luminary of international status quickly cut through the dross of all the argumentation to the quick conclusion that what has been witnessed was at least an act of insubordination.
Comparatively, it would be interesting to see how managers of business organisations would react to an appointee who argued that the employer had no right to adjust his/her compensation package, following an evaluation of performance. The prudent employer would quite likely refer to internal precedents, as well as best practices elsewhere.
Some observers have pointed out that they did not detect reference to any comparable constitutional scenario which would buttress this instant opinion – surely an unusual omission in shaping such a fundamentally new construct.
Hardly a sporting gesture!
E.B. John

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