To Meet Again Next Month
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Wednesday met to discuss the appointments of Chancellor of the Judiciary and Chief Justice.
The President and Opposition Leader will meet again next month to discuss the appointments.
Article 127 (1) of the Guyana Constitution states that the Chancellor and Chief Justice shall be appointed by the President, acting after obtaining the agreement of the Leader of the Opposition.
Granger, who was accompanied to the talks by a delegation that included Attorney General, Basil Williams, has nominated Guyanese Kenneth Benjamin, the Chief Justice in Belize, for the post of Chancellor and Yonette Cummings Edwards, the current acting Chancellor, for the position of Chief Justice.
Jagdeo, who was accompanied by two members of the main oppisition People’s Progressive Party (PPP), including its legal advisor and legislator, Priya Manickchand, has requested that he be given more time to consider the nominees.
They will meet again on February 7th to continue the deliberations.
Guyana has been without a substantive Chancellor of the Judiciary for over a decade and prior to the talks, Jagdeo had told reporters he would not be making any comments until after the meeting on Wednesday with Granger.
The two leaders had recently been at loggerheads over the appointment of a chairman of the Guyana Elections and Boundaries Commission (GECOM). – CMC
