Dear Editor,
A friend of mine who is an attorney and also holds a ministerial position in another country, once told me that the ethics in law is different from that of the practice of physicians as lawyers generally are not held to the standards of the medical profession. Since then, I have followed judgments and find that indeed, the rule of law to be a strange process with decisions being made that when incorrect, cost distress, heartbreak and sometimes lives. The ruling of the two Guyanese judges against the judgment of the Supreme Court Justice (ag) of Guyana was disheartening for me and I feel a sense of loss of faith in the justice system.
It appears to me that the judges who ruled against Justice George were showing her disrespect by disallowing her judgment. Lack of solidarity and poor judgment appears to be the rule of the day. Trying to cover up a strange judgment with intellectual arguments is attempting to disguise the truth by creating confusion. A child said, “The emperor wears no clothes”. The truth was plain for all to see but was hidden by deception. A child would say that 33 is greater than 32. The Supreme Court of the USA with nine judges requires only one vote to make a majority. In Guyana, we require two for an absolute majority when common sense dictates that a majority is a majority by a vote of one. If the requirement is for a two-thirds majority, which is understood to be a stricter system, then it should be spelt out in the Constitution. The practice has always been a majority of one. That is how the Government rules. By a one-seat majority. That is how votes are commonly done in Parliament. See the link below with the Parliamentary tabulations for majority. For 64, the majority is 33. For 65, the majority is 33. (The Parliamentary Procedure Instructional Materials Center https://msu.edu/~spha/documents/determinevote.pdf)
I believe that the President is a man of good character. As a man of God, he should not turn to these mortals for finding a ruling which would allow more time to govern. He should be guided by the people’s wishes. He should be guided by his conscience. Stop the spending on legal battles. If the Government has done good, and there are many good things to show for the time in Government, then face the electorate and be guided by the people. The country will applaud your courage Mr President.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Davendra Sharma
Guyana
