Copyright stabroeknews
Dear Editor, In reference to your Sunday Editorial, “Independent Judiciary,” October 26, 2025, I share the views of bloggers who read it and complimented its insightful perspective. However, I want to go one step farther and request that the President of Guyana come straights-and-full with the people of Guyana over what really transpired to trigger the appearance of a forced removal of the acting Chancellor from office. In an August 4, 2025, Stabroek News’ article, “Justices George, Singh sworn in to perform functions of Chancellor, CJ respectively,” an indirect quote from a news release attributed to the President stated, ‘that the temporary filling of Justice Cummings-Edwards’s absence reflects the administration’s commitment to justice, fairness and the rule of law’. If that was true, then what transpired on Friday after the acting Chancellor returned from long leave did not reflect our basic understanding of temporary and fair. Did the President knowingly misled the nation, and, if he did, can he please state why even if he must clarify what happened here? After all, the Judiciary is an independent branch of government in a true democracy, which meant that the Chancellor, acting since March 2017 as head of the Judiciary, should not have endured a painful public retirement that was unprofessionally, embarrassingly, and unceremoniously handled, regardless of whatever went down, job-wise, behind closed doors. She should have been the one to swear in the acting Chief Justice while the President swore in the acting Chancellor. Protocol should require nothing less. But let us not lose sight of the fact that the President previously appeared to mislead the nation on the question of confirming the acting Chancellor and acting Chief Justice when he reportedly promised, ‘that the confirmation of the Chancellor and Chief Justice is dependent on Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon, recognizing his government as legitimate,” Kaieteur News 3, 2021. It was a politically puerile reason or promise from the sitting President of Guyana, but although Harmon did not recognize the PPP government, Aubrey Norton did after he took over as PNC Leader, “Norton says accept reality of PPPC government,” Stabroek News, January 1, 2022. Norton’s recognition then prompted Attorney-General Anil Nandlall to offer this headlined comment, “Norton’s logic confirms the PPPC government is legitimate,” Guyana Chronicle, February 13, 2022. But even with those foregoing qualifications by Norton and Nandlall, the President still reneged on his promise to confirm the two gentleladies, just as he reneged on his promise to investigate Jagdeo and Su. Coming back to the appearance of political interference in the removal of the acting Chancellor, last Friday, if the President really wanted her gone without appearing to lie, he should have said she was proceeding on terminal leave, which would have meant her official retirement would start after her official leave ended. He simply bungled the process for professionally passing of the baton by allowing her to return to work and, after some confusion, the sledgehammer dropped on her judicial career. There was nothing temporary or fair from this fallout. PPP supporters who keep harping about the former acting Chancellor’s controversial ruling on the half of 65 fiasco as reason for her ouster, need to remember judges are humans and make mistakes in law-based, case-based and opinion-base rulings. But that cannot be the deciding factor in the unceremonial removal of the head of the Judiciary. I recall here were former PPP appointees who did no better in their government jobs, and were still nicely treated and rewarded. Former Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy, whose name was mentioned in the Roger Khan court case in New York Court as being a facilitator during the 2002-2006 Freedom Fighter-Phantom Squad era, went on to become Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to Switzerland, accredited to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization in Geneva. Dr. Raj Singh and Sasenarine Singh were appointed, years apart, as GuySuCo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, respectively, and after failing to deliver there, they were rewarded with ambassadorial postings (Raj as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and Sase to Belgium). The former acting Chancellor went into retirement under a rather dark cloud that raises serious questions about political interference in the judicial branch of government. Emile Mervin
