Amid an outpouring of opprobrium, Attorney General (AG) Basil Williams yesterday said that President David Granger found the basis for his unilateral declaration of a chairman of GECOM in the ruling of Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George in the case of Marcel Gaskin v AG etal.
A key part of the AG’s argument yesterday related to the judge’s consideration of a proviso in the constitution for the President to make a unilateral decision. This is a controversial area as counsel for Gaskin has argued that the proviso was never part of the declaratory orders sought on the meaning of Article 161(2) from the court and that the Chief Justice had overreached. The Chief Justice’s ruling had also acknowledged that full arguments had not been heard on the proviso thereby giving the impression that what she had to say on it was not substantive or definitive. The application by Gaskin was filed following the rejection by Granger of the first list of GECOM nominees from Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.
Granger’s unilateral naming of 84-year-old Justice James Patterson as GECOM Chairman has seen widespread condemnation from civil society and in a statement last evening Williams set out the aspects of Justice George’s ruling that the President relied on.
