There was a distinct tone of gracelessness to the comment by our Attorney General and Justice Minister and maybe even Senior Counsel in waiting, Anil Nandlall in his response to the comment made by Khemraj Ramjattan that the AG could help out the opposition in the drafting of legislation. Now there just may be a possibility that the AFC top man was being a trifle mischievous – perhaps seeking to send a coded signal to the government that it can anticipate a hatful and more of draft legislation from the opposition side of the House. If it was a jibe, Khemraj, take a bow; tactful and tasty and just the kind of witticism that might get you The Tantalizer’s job some time down the road.
Here’s how The Tantalizer read what you said…….Loaded with cynicism and a hint of a snigger and cleverly directed at just the right man………the man who appears to be emerging as the PPP/C administration’s Pit Bull. You probably know too that before you could get the last syllable out of your mouth Anil would take you on………a sort of extension of his tirade over the eventual election of Trottie as the Speaker of the House. Good show Khemraj? Just the kind of thing to spice up the cold fish politics in the Republic.
Predictably, our touchy Attorney General picked you up and declared that the AFC and APNU would have to find their own people to do their own drafting. One would not have thought that there was a problem there. After all the Parliament is now packed with Attorneys some of whom are not likely to have their plates full. They can do the drafting; can’t they?
A word to the Attorney General; you are the nation’s First Attorney, the Republic’s top legal honcho. You draft laws and you go the National Assembly to have bills turned into legislation. You must therefore let your pen be your passion. Of course you are a PPP/C Minister. But no Attorney General worth his salt can function as an attack dog for a political party. There are expectations of sophistication, of measured pronouncements dripping with wisdom, of thoughtful declarations that elicit nods of admiration from all sides of the House. The Republic’s Attorney General, Anil, must always seem to be hovering above the affray of ordinariness……..not wallowing in it. No legal fees for The Tantalizer’s advice Mr. Nandalall.
When you come to think of it, however, the performances which it now seems the opposition might have to endure from our Attorney General in the National Assembly may well have been avoided if the AFC had been able, somehow, TO PERSUADE NIGEL HUGHES TO OCCUPY ONE OF THE OPPOSITION SEATS IN PARLIAMENT.