HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon yesterday reiterated the intention of President Donald Ramotar to fill the two most senior appointments in the judiciary.Reporting to the media during his post-Cabinet media briefing, Dr. Luncheon stated that it is the intention of the President to fill the positions of Chancellor of the Judiciary and the Chief Justice with the persons who have been acting in the positions for several years, namely Acting Chancellor Carl Singh and Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang.

Dr. Luncheon explained that the Constitution of Guyana imposes on the President the responsibility of appointment of Constitutional post holders.

“The Constitution provides for the conditions under which the President discharges such responsibilities,” Dr. Luncheon said. He added that the Constitutional reform process of 2000 introduced mechanisms for meaningful consultations with the Leader of the Opposition for certain appointments. The reform process itself made the approval of the Leader of the Opposition necessary for some appointments, particularly that of the Chancellor and the Chief Justice.

“The president has made those intentions known during consultations with the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition has alternatively proposed a public application process for the filling of those two posts that would provide the security of tenure of the Chancellor and the Chief Justice. In the face of the repeated objections and the undertaking by the Leader of the Opposition not to accept the President’s proposal for the appointment of Acting Chancellor Carl Singh and Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, it is a fact that the substantive positions would remain vacant and the untenable situation of the highest position of the judiciary in the land being held by an officer without security of tenure is before the people of Guyana and specifically the current acting post holders,” Dr. Luncheon declared.

Dr. Luncheon also questioned why after persons have been acting for many years a public application process must be embarked upon.

“What are we saying by this proposal? After all these years, I can’t conceive going to the two and saying that they are not fit for the position and will have to compete in an open process, what about the notion of security of tenure?”

The HPS said there is no other country in and out of the Region that has an open application process for selecting persons for the two offices, and according to him, is not the intention of the administration to be the trail blazers in that regard.

Meanwhile, Former Justice Winston Moore will soon be sworn in as the Ombudsman by the President. Further, Cabinet has approved the appointment of Ms. Michelle Promp the Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to Guyana. The Ambassador will be resident in Paramaribo, Suriname.