Dear Editor,
My attention was drawn to a report in Stabroek News on Sunday 18 March, 2023, the contents of which appear to be a complaint against the Office of the Commissioner of Information. The gravamen of the view of the aggrieved complainant, Hon, Aubrey C. Norton, M.P., the holder of a constitutional Office, Leader of the Opposition, is that I am “not appropriate for the role” and called on me “to step down and be immediately replaced”.
Not unlike his immediate predecessor, he failed to familiarize himself with the intricate contours of the provisions of the Access to Information Act 2011 which, when lawfully interpreted, restrict my removal from Office, except as specified in S.6 thereof. The headline extrapolated from his complaint by the Editor of Stabroek News boldly states “Ramson not fit…” Comprehension deficit is not an unfamiliar factor of our current Opposition members.
For the information of all concerned, unsolicited, I was deemed “fit and proper” by a duly elected President in accordance with S.5 thereof, and consequently, I await the unlikely accession to this Office by the incumbent Opposition Leader. The recent practice of ventilating correspondence generated between Officeholders and solicitous members of the public will be the bane of intended engagements, inter se.
Sincerely,
Charles Ramson
Commissioner of Information