Judicial, Teaching & Public Procurement Commissions by Friday

Weeks after President Irfaan Ali forged ahead and appointed the Integrity and Police Service Commissions, he is now set to appoint three more Commissions on Friday.

The Attorney General’s Chambers, in a notice on Tuesday, disclosed that the President will preside over the swearing-in of members of the Judicial, Teaching and Public Procurement Commissions on July 1, 2022.

The notice said, “The constitutional and other legal requirements having been complied with, the members of the Judicial Service Commission, the Teaching Service Commission and the Public Procurement Commission shall be sworn in on Friday, 1st July 2022, by His Excellency, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali at the Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Bourda, Georgetown.”

Those to be sworn in as members of the Teaching Service Commission are not yet known but the new Commission will have to address the appointments of senior and junior teachers which has remained in limbo for some time; the life of the last Commission ended in 2021.

Meanwhile, five persons have already secured the necessary two-thirds majority approval from the Parliament to be sworn in as the next Public Procurement Commission (PPC).

The Opposition APNU+AFC Coalition had nominated economist Rawle Lucas, and former Chairman of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Berkeley Wickham. Lucas’ name was subsequently withdrawn and replaced with AFC’s Diana Rajkumar.

The life of the last Commission ended in 2019 but its Chairman Carol Corbin was retained until 2020. That Commission was appointed in 2016 by former President David Granger.

Further, the Judicial Service has not been reconstituted since 2017 but plays a critical role in the appointment of new magistrates and judges.

Dr. Ali had begun engagements with Opposition Leader Norton on these appointments but Norton had insisted that the appointment of a Chancellor and Chief Justice – two positions that has had seen persons acting for several years – should also be included on the agenda.

The President recently said that while he has no issue appointing the top judicial officers, he would do so at the right time.