Opposition proving ineffective and innocuous

Dear Editor,
It comes as no surprise that the High Court has now ruled that the “President’s (Dr. Irfaan Ali’s) appointment of Clifton Hicken to act as Police Commissioner (is) constitutional.” The details show that President Irfaan Ali’s appointment of Mr Clifton Hicken to act as Police Commissioner was “out of necessity and his “own deliberate judgement,” and therefore was very constitutional, as there was no Opposition Leader and Police Service Commission (PSC) at the time.
So, let me revisit a few things, as I feel strongly that the exercises of otiosity from the Opposition must be denounced.
I go back to April 2022, and remind readers that it was four months after being elected Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) (the main component of APNU+AFC coalition), that Aubrey Norton was finally elected unopposed (almost by default) to fill the vacancy of Leader of the Opposition. On the occasion, he did pledge to hold the PPP/C Government accountable. Mind you, the Irfaan Ali-led PPP/C Government took office in August 2020.
I remind readers, too, that it was in late March 2022 that President Irfaan Ali, coerced almost to act, finally appointed Deputy Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken to the post of Commissioner of Police (as Nigel Hoppie, who was holding the position in an acting capacity, was heading into pre-retirement leave).
I have still another reminder on the dilatory and negligent behaviour of Aubrey Norton and the Opposition. I go back to late May 2022, when His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali had to condemn “…the unexplained absence of Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton, who was expected to meet with the Head of State today, for a second round of consultation…” That meeting was to discuss the appointments of statutory and constitutional bodies, as mandated by the Constitution.
However, the Opposition Leader was a no-show. This was not defence and irresponsibility, and Dr. Ali was so right in stating that Norton had “demonstrated his immaturity” in dealing with important matters when he failed to show up without explanation.”
For his exact words and a glimpse into the President, he noted that “These are important national issues, and I want them completed in an environment of respect and an environment of dignity, because as I have said before, I am pursuing ‘One Guyana.’ It is clear to me that those aspirations of mine may not be shared by Mister Norton, because he did not have the dignity, the professionalism, to even respond orally or in writing to the invitation.”
So, the very ethics of Norton are ‘well-below-par’, and are quite inimical to anything worthwhile for the country.
Now concerning Norton’s action, I go directly to the ruling. In the notes proffered by Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire, it is said “There could be no disregard of, and thereby a breach of, the requirement for meaningful consultation when it was impossible to so engage. The applicant therefore is relying on an impossibility to ground the claim of unconstitutionality.” She was, of course, referring to the claim from the Opposition that the President breached the Constitution. She added that the use of the words “act” and “perform the functions of” could be used interchangeably, noting that “…the High Court could not declare that there was no consultation, because at the time there was no Opposition Leader through no fault of the President.
Therefore, outside of being egregiously noisome, obnoxious, presumptuous and unethical, the Opposition and their blind flowers are being illegal, and thus ill-advised. I hope that “On the point by the applicant Christopher Jones, Chief Whip of the Opposition for A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change, pay attention as the his ‘resort to court’ action was deemed “vexatious and an abuse of the process of the court.” For his enlightenment, he must absorb that fact that the Public Service Commission rules do not strictly bind the President to appoint the next most senior officer, in this case Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Williams, to act as Police Commissioner after then acting Police Commissioner Nigel Hoppie had proceeded on pre-retirement leave.” In short, but quite succinctly, “Guyana’s Constitution permits the President to act in his own deliberate judgment and according to the provision, and not on the advice or a recommendation of anyone or any entity.
In closing, I pay due regard to the Anil Nandlall-led team of the PPP/C. The AG Anil Nandlall continues the fight for ongoing democracy that was led by People’s Progressive Party starting back in March 2020. We all know that it is the Rule of Law that must prevail, and so the courts, leading all the way up to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), are the ones with the final say. Yes, it is costing money, as the AG recently pointed out, but ‘justice is priceless.’

Yours truly,
H Singh