Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon yesterday dismissed claims by Opposition leader David Granger that he was not meaningfully consulted on the appointment of Seelall Persaud as Commissioner of Police saying that he could not be located at the time.
”President Ramotar has been chasing behind David Granger morning, noon and night and he is not an easy cat to find,” Luncheon told reporters at his post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday.
Granger has said that Ramotar did invite him to a consultation on the issue but he declined on the grounds that he wanted Persaud to address his role in the recent promotion of two cops who had tortured a teenaged boy in 2009 at the Leonora Police Station.
“This is no longer an administrative issue, it is a legal issue,” Granger had told Stabroek News, while stressing that the Constitution was not followed and disclosed that he had spoken to his lawyer about the constitutional breach.
Article 211 (1) of the Constitution provides for the Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police to be appointed by the President after meaningful consultation with the Leader of the Opposition and the chairperson of the Police Service Commission.
Granger said he could not see how the appointment could have been done when he was never consulted. “No such consultations have taken place,” he emphasized. Granger went on to explain that he had written to Persaud seeking answers about the promotions and in a response, he was referred to the Police Service Commission.
Yesterday, Luncheon said that in addition to his belief that Granger was elusive when his presence was being sought on the matter, he was surprised that Granger would say that he was not consulted. “The man ain’t easy to find…if he was a TV programme, he would be the ‘Unfindables’,” Luncheon remarked.
He stressed that he has correspondence from Granger in response to an invitation from the president to address the confirmation of Persaud to his current post.
He opined that maybe Granger was not pleased with Persaud’s appointment since in the case of former Commissioner Leroy Brumell’s appointment, Granger was found for nearly every consultation.
