Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton says that he is still awaiting an invitation from President Irfaan Ali for talks.
Contacted yesterday, Norton told Stabroek News that he has not received any formal invitation from the Office of the President and to his knowledge no correspondence has been sent to the office of the Leader of the Opposition.
“I didn’t get any…I am just here [waiting]” the Leader of the Opposition said.
On April 20th at the launch of Building Expo 2022, Ali told reporters that he intends to meet with the Opposition Leader in two weeks. The two weeks’ timeline expires today.
“Sometime tomorrow (April 21) he (Norton) will be in possession of a letter,” the president had said.
“My intention is to meet with the Leader of the Opposition in the next two weeks. There are a number of matters; constitutional matters. So those are what will primarily be on the table – the commissions. You know we have to get the Judicial Service Commission and everything into place, so yes, all the constitutional issues that require meeting with the Leader of the Opposition will be on the table,” the president added.
Approaching two years since Ali became president, there is yet to be a meeting between him and the Leader of the Opposition on constitutional appointments.
Norton has insisted that a range of vital issues outside of constitutional appointments will have to be raised whenever he meets with Ali.
At a press conference last week, Norton was responding to the Sunday Stabroek editorial of April 23 entitled `Opposition Leader’ which had expressed concern that Norton had signalled his intention to advance broader issues whereas the focus should be on securing long- awaited appointments such as those of the Chancellor of the Judiciary and the Chief Justice.
Reading from a prepared statement, Norton said “Given this dire emergency in the country’s governance and democracy, it would be a gross dereliction of duty, responsibility and morality on the part of the Leader of the Opposition and the entire APNU+AFC coalition not to raise these issues at every opportunity in the hope of rescuing this nation on behalf of the people.
He said that the discussions with the President on the appointment of judges and commissioners can be managed as a “standalone” item and delinked from other matters.
“As Leader of the Opposition, I intend to fulfil my responsibilities in this regard. It is now up to the President to stop the protracted dilly-dallying and fulfil his own constitutional responsibilities”, Norton declared.
