Dear Editor,
From the very beginning, it required no great imagination or wisdom to appreciate that whatever the decision handed down by the Chief Justice (ag), it would be automatically appealed by the losers. This would be regardless of the verbiage articulating the rationale(s) behind that decision. This is what has already been signaled by the coalition spokespeople, and now confirmed by the president himself. It is merely the next step up the judicial tribunal food chain. I see both sides seeking the seal of approval of the courts, to provide some strain of judicial legitimacy.
The next card in the deck is the Court of Appeals. As an aside, it is regrettable that a matter of this national significance, would be heard by a Court of Appeals that is numerically short-handed. With every respect to the three learned and honourable members of that court, no one should have any problems with the submission that a full-count court of five is much more reassuring than three. But three it is. That in and of itself, is indicative of the many intractable and inextricable impasses in which this society finds itself hopelessly imprisoned, and without even the mirage of possible future parole. But with the settled three in this higher chamber in the domestic jurisprudential domain, it is the going through of the motions of presenting and advocating and arguing till that particular clock runs out, and then the inevitable next step by the political group on the wrong side for a hearing before the final arbiter: the CCJ.
Once again, legal and political strategies aside, I emphasize and reemphasize how dependent (helplessly addicted even) this country is to the chaperoning hands of outsiders. Nothing of consequence can be trusted here, relied upon here, lived with here. But in that eagerly awaited decision, there are some other things worth noting.
Those ruling(s), all somewhat interrelated, by the CJ (ag), I think were handled with poise and strength. The issue involving dual citizenship was easy, and just as easily dispensed with in crisp clean strokes. So, too, was the precise identity of what constitutes a numerical majority. Done. Next item. The lady would not have lost much sleep or used many waking hours over those. The general belief is that the adversarial parties were and are fully cognizant of where things stood, how they should really be, and what would be the outcome from above. Both warring sides, also, already knew the exposure of that Achilles heel in their respective parliamentary makeups.
On the other hand, the no-confidence motion, vote, and result, and with specific reference to its validity (or lack thereof) called for, demanded, more than legal drilling, cerebral sifting, and philosophical searching. The decision, as delivered, by the esteemed CJ (ag) required something else: something different and rare and special. That decision as to validity made it imperative that courage of the highest order be found and then manifested. It is the kind of courage not usually found or displayed in herd-like, reflexive, fearful Guyana. It was the courage to suppress and ignore the not-so-silent whispers and insinuations of possible judicial shenanigans leading to political upending, should the final decision be found unfavourable. It was that or nothing else.
In addition, the CJ (ag) manifested the courage to go against the grain and break the anticipated bonding with racial and tribal ranks, while utilizing lustrous ponderous phraseology as cover. No, she did not hear nor heed the stirring call of the clan; or the veiled suspicions of others. She had the courage, to deliver in the heat of the crucible, and the decision was sure to be either viewed, or approved, or denounced by experts and laypeople. The CJ (ag) must be applauded, whether agreed with or not, for the courage to rule on the merits, as she constitutionally interpreted, as guided by her intellect, legal ethics, and sinews of conscience.
One last time, no matter what citizens think the decisions should have been, or what their politics are, I recommend that the CJ be applauded and respected for her indispensable courage in the face of extreme environment and political expectations.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
