Jagdeo backs Dharamlall over attacks on judiciary

Dec 28, 2021 News

…says I am not going to chastise him for expressing his frustration which I too share

Kaieteur News – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo is the latest person to add his voice to the commentary which followed the recent ruling of Guyana’s Court of Appeal on the Elections Petition case.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.

The ruling which essentially paves the way for the opposition to challenge the outcome of the recent Regional and General Elections drew ire from some members of the ruling People Progressive Party/ Civic “(PPP/C) administration, including the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamalall, who publicly called for the officials to be relieved of their posts.
In his comments, Dharamlall publically lambasted Chancellor of the Judiciary (Ag), Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Justice of Appeal Dawn Gregory for the decision, calling them politically biased “PNC activists.”
The Local Government Minister’s comment was met with backlash from several individuals and civil society groups including the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL) which called for a swift retraction of the Minister’s statement.
Dharamlall’s recent comments on the Appeal Court‘s decision to hear the appeal on the dismissal of an opposition election petition, has found the support of Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo.
During an interview, which was shared via his official Facebook page, Jagdeo called for the critics to lay off Dharamlall.
The Vice President in his defence of Dharamlall, reasoned that the Minister was just expressing his frustration.
“In my opinion… It was impulsive but impulsive doesn’t mean unthinking. He is very passionate and I am not going to chastise him for expressing his frustration of which I too share,” Jagdeo opined.
Jagdeo opined that Dharamlall is not the only one and noted that people are very frustrated about judicial unaccountability.
As such, the Vice President said that the reputation of the local judiciary has been brought into disrepute not just nationally but internationally.

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dhramalall.

To this end, Jagdeo said, instead of critiquing Dharamlall, efforts should be geared towards changing the system to where the judiciary is more accountable to the people it serves.
According to Jagdeo, “the question of the independence of our judiciary, the accountability and its partisanship is now a global issue…We have seen particularly, post elections period, some of the weirdest decision; not based on law decisions in our courts…We recently saw a person who headed recount in the Guyana [elections] speak about this in a lecture in Barbados. But it is not confined to Barbados… And if people feel that the judiciary is not objective that it is biased, it has political preference. It will not just affect the individuals in the judiciary but it will affect our country in every way whatsoever; it will affect us on the commercial fronts; the transparency front when we are assess internationally.”
The Vice President said, “clearly, Guyana cannot turn a blind eye to these issues; the people regardless of which side you are on, even if you are in the leadership of the judiciary, the question out there is how come we have such grave disparities in the rulings … if you look at the scathing remarks of the CCJ– our highest court– they are almost in disbelief that such decisions could have been made. There is this view that the judiciary is partisan especially when it comes to political matters.”
The Vice President, as such, believes it is time to explore a different model or system for the judiciary.
“So the question is how can we as a country make the judiciary more accountable to the public? As the executive and legislative we have ways to be held accountable….”
Jagdeo suggested a system similar to that of the United States could allow the people more liberty to speak on matters pertaining to the judiciary.
“We should be looking at these models that allow the judiciary to be more accountable to the people,” Jagdeo said.