Govt to appeal CJ’s ruling on appointment of parliamentary secretaries

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Hon. Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC has said the Government would be challenging the Chief Justice’s ruling on the appointments of parliamentary secretaries at the Court of Appeal.

The Attorney General made this statement on Tuesday evening on his weekly ‘Issues in the News’ programme.

“I intend to aggressively prosecute that appeal and I intend also, in the Court of Appeal, to get the ruling of the Chief Justice stayed until the hearing and determination of the appeal,” he said.

On Monday, Chief Justice (Ag), Roxane George ruled in the matter filed by Opposition Chief Whip, Hon. Christopher Jones, challenging the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries, Ms. Sarah Browne and Mr. Vikash Ramkissoon who were appointed by His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali to sit in the National Assembly.

MP Jones contended that the appointments were unlawful because the parliamentary secretaries came from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) List of Candidates at the 2020 elections.

Through his attorney, he argued that the provision of the Constitution which governs the appointment of technocratic ministers are identical to the provisions of the Constitution that govern the appointment of parliamentary secretaries.  He used the argument the current AG, while in Opposition, used in the Keith Scott and Winston Felix case.

The CJ in her ruling, considered herself bound by the decision rendered by the then Chief Justice Ian Chang where he upheld that submission and ruled that Scott and Felix were not lawfully appointed technocratic ministers.

“In my humble view, the Chief Justice fell into grave error because the constitutional provisions which govern the appointment of parliamentary secretaries are different from the constitutional provision that govern the appointment of technocratic ministers. They are not the same provisions,” AG Nandlall said.

In his submissions, AG Nandlall sought to highlight the difference between the two provisions in the Constitution. He said they do not apply interchangeably; they are found in different parts of the Constitution and govern different personnel.

“In my view, the Constitution says clearly, a Parliamentary Secretary can come from either the List or off the List but the person must be qualified to be elected to the National Assembly,” hesaid.

AG Nandlall said the Government would challenge the CJ’s decision at the High Court since they believe that the Parliamentary Secretaries have the right to sit in the National Assembly as non-voting members.

“That is exactly what the Court of Appeal did when Justice Chang ruled that Felix and Scott were unlawfully put in the Parliament. They never left the Parliament, they sat there for the entirety of their term. They received salaries because the Court of Appeal granted a stay,” he said.

The AG also said these litigations are good since they would help to clarify grey areas in the Constitution.