Consultation on constitutional appointments held between President and Opposition Leader

President Irfaan Ali and Opposition and Member of Parliament, Aubrey C. Norton met on Friday at the Office of the President. The Consultations in respect of the appointments of persons to constitutional and statutory commissions, were initiated between President Ali and Opposition Leader Norton by letter under the hand of Gail Teixeira, Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister and Member of Parliament, dated April 29, 2022.

This letter fixed today, the 13^th May at 15:00h, for an in-person consultation It was revealed that the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Mohabir Anil Nandlall SC accompanied the President, while Roysdale Forde SC, Member of Parliament accompanied the Opposition Leader.

It was noted that prior to Friday’s meeting, the Opposition Leader by letter dated 9^th May 2022, requested details of the appointments to be made. Minister Teixeira responded on 11^th May, 2022 providing the details of the Commissions and the names of the persons who are the subject of the consultations to be appointed to those Commissions.

It was disclosed that these are Integrity Commission the Judicial Service Commission, Police Service Commission, and Teaching Service Commission. The Opposition Leader in a letter dated the 12^th May, requested further information regarding the names under consideration. However, on the same day Teixeira responded requesting specificity on the information that is being requested.

Further, at the meeting held on Friday, the Opposition Leader clarified that the information that is being requested are the Curriculum Vitae (CV’s) of the persons under consideration. President Ali agreed to make those CVs available within two days. It was further agreed that the consultations will be guided by the Constitution and the in-person consultations will resume on a date to be fixed, but within a week.