Alliance for Change (AFC) Chairman Khemraj Ramjattan has said he raised the alleged withdrawal of the conferral of Senior Counsel (SC) status on attorney Timothy Jonas at the government level and he has voiced his confidence that the attorney will be bestowed with the honour.
“I did raise it at the proper places and I rather suspect that Timothy is going to become the silk that he is deserving of,” Ramjattan told an AFC press conference at the party’s Kitty headquarters last Friday, when asked whether it had sought an explanation from government.
Days after Jonas was informed that he was selected to become a SC, he was contacted and told that this was being reconsidered. This occurred shortly after it was published that Jonas and others had formed a new political party.
During a January 23rd press conference, the AFC had called on government to explain the situation.
“On behalf of our party… we do have to hear from the other side. We only heard what was reported in the media. We would not want to be associated with any sort of victimisation of anyone because of their political belief. That is something we hold very dear to us and it is important,” AFC Executive Dominic Gaskin had said. “We would of course like to get the whole story behind it but it is not the type of actions that we support,” he added.
Asked for an update, Ramjattan identified the president as being one of the persons with whom the issue was raised but he did not go into the details of their engagement.
“It was a presidential appointment and of course it is going to be at those places – president and Judicial Service Commission and Attorney General,” he said.
Ramjattan, who is himself an attorney, could not say when Jonas will be conferred with the honour. “Those are appointments done by the president and the president has generally indicated that he would like to do five per year and I rather suspect in good time Timothy is going to be Senior Counsel. In my book he merits that,” Ramjattan added.
On Christmas Eve, Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of the Presidency Vic Persaud contacted Jonas at his home to inform him that upon the judges’ recommendation, he was being appointed SC and that in the coming days he would receive his documentation and invitation to the ceremony.
The following day, Stabroek News published a story about the formation of a political party, A New and United Guyana. Five days later, Persaud informed Jonas that the Executive had reconsidered the decision.
A few days later, the Ministry of the Presidency announced five new SC appointments and Jonas’ name was not included.
Attorney General Basil Williams SC would later say that the selection of such persons is at the discretion of the president who can alter the list of candidates recommended to him by the Chancellor of the Judiciary.
He has also insisted that Jonas did not meet the requirements and will have to gain a few more years of legal experience before he can be considered. This position was later rebuffed by former AG Anil Nandlall and the late Bernard De Santos, SC.
The next list is expected to be released at the end of the year.
