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Integrity in high office

Oct 21, 2022 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Kaieteur News – The esteemed jurists at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the region’s highest legal tribunal decided that the circumstances necessitated the use of some scorching words of reprimand.  The judges that scalded the Hon. Attorney General of Guyana, Mr. Anil Nandlall, SC (AG), let him know where matters stood, and that what was done was unacceptable, especially when an agreement was finalized.

The words coming out from the AG’s office were suitably humble and contrite, at least on paper, and of which there were two objectives only: to soothe the ruffled feelings of the CCJ, and to make this storm pass as quickly as possible.  There was still falling short, and woefully so.

In the flurry of quick, sharp words from the CCJ, one word in particular stood out.  The word is integrity, and that it must not be tampered with, or the respected court loses some of its growing luster, be brought into disrepute.  We at this newspaper could have advised the well-intended tribunes of the CCJ that word has lesser and lesser application in Guyana. We recognise that the CCJ has its work to do, and that it does so cleanly and to its credit, but integrity is a lost cause, in a dead-on-arrival state in this country. Still, the thinking is that the AG’s office would be a leader in maintaining discipline, exercising cool and calm judgment, and representing what inspires the rest of Guyana.

Not so, not so; not with what breached the dam of restraint in a delightful dance of uncontrolled excitement, which highlights what really matters, is the foremost priority, the first order of business in this sorry State. It is about elections, and as if nothing else exists. We understand that elections have transformed into the cure and curse of this country, as some would have it, but we are yet to experience what elections in this country have cured.  We appreciate also that the powers that elections grant make so many rich things possible, which explains the rapid overreaction coming out of the AG’s office that just couldn’t be controlled nor contained.  This is how Guyana is continually disgraced, made into the child for, which corrective rods have to be drawn and used.  It is doubtful that learning would come, for there is always tomorrow, and more foolishness and recklessness to score political points.

What alarmed and agitated the CCJ was that it was taken advantage of, agreement was violated, and then used for purposes that the regional court did not find impressive at all, or amusing either.  What occurred with the CCJ’s decision and the premature sharing of it was that it gives rise to interpretations that the work of the CCJ could be open to unwanted conjecture.  The CCJ simply could not afford to let the moment pass unaddressed, given the overheated cauldron that is regional politics, and arguably none more than that which dominates in Guyana.  The AG and the luminaries in his office should have known better, and we think that they do.  But again, this emphasizes how much elections signify in this country.

For its part, the CCJ moved to distance itself quickly from what Guyana’s AG office did.  Stern reproof was quick in flowing from the angry jurists, which we believe is justified.  Now there is the specter of the CCJ taking further action to protect its coveted position.  This can only be to the disadvantage of Guyana, which never seems to be equipped or capable of resolving its own illnesses, leading to its chronic overdependence on those outside of our shores to help us settle our differences.

As swiftly as the CCJ remonstrated Guyana, there was a similar swift reaction from the AG’s office.  It was one that only made a bad situation worse: it was the slip of an administrator.  There are times in a race, at the top, when the baton cannot and must not be passed.  When the Hon. Attorney General of Guyana had to demonstrate beyond a doubt that he was up to the challenge at hand, that he was ready to face the music, the best he could do was silently retreat, and let others carry the heavy load.

 

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