President Anthony Carmona filled the vacancies on the Integrity Commission last week and in the process, fired some salvos of his own at his critics by referring to their criticisms of his handling of the Integrity Commission as “rum shop logic.” While the President has developed a propensity for the use of inelegant language not befitting the office of President, he has fixed a major integrity problem on the Integrity Commission.
His two appointees are respected individuals who have taken bold decisions to step forward to serve on a commission that has been plagued with instability since February 2009 when the entire commission resigned after a High Court judge ruled on a judicial review matter involving Dr Keith Rowley.
The fact that there was a collapse of the replacement commission that was appointed by then president Richards in May 2009 only served to confirm that bad presidential judgment can cause tremendous instability on a commission that is supposed to be the moral police of the society.
President Richards faced the resignations of three chairmen during his tenure (John Martin and Father Henry Charles in 2009 and Dr Eric St Cyr in 2011), while he suspended deputy chairman Gladys Gafoor in 2012 following her refusal to recuse herself from the John Jeremie matter at the request of the then chairman Ken Gordon. Carmona took no action against Gordon when the controversy arose about a private meeting at Gordon’s home with the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Keith Rowley, in May 2013 shortly after he had assumed office as President. However, when Gordon’s term ended in October 2014, he was not reappointed by Carmona to the position of chairman.
Controversy followed the new chairman Zainool Hosein on the day of his swearing-in ceremony when he insisted that he would remain as chairman of the Retired Judges’ Association while serving as chairman of the Integrity Commission. That statement was made in a moment of contention with media reporters which was completely avoidable when he challenged their understanding of the English language.
More controversy would come when retired judge Sebastian Ventour would resign over the decision of the quorum of the commission to discontinue the investigation of the controversy called “emailgate.” Ventour himself had drawn fire over his decision to initially remain a member of the Constitution Commission in 2013 while intending to serve as deputy chairman of the Integrity Commission immediately after his swearing-in ceremony in July 2013. He resigned inexplicably from the Constitution Commission after making public statements that he saw no reason to resign in the first place.
Accountant Joel Edwards was appointed by President Carmona to the Integrity Commission in March 2014 following the resignation of accountant Sieunarine Jokhoo from the commission. Edwards would resign in July 2014 and the President would then appoint accountant Pete London to the commission in September 2014.
The President has had his fair share of misadventures with appointments to the commission in the same way that his predecessor president Richards also had his trials and tribulations. There was a revolving door of accountants between July 2013 and September 2014.
Ventour also had his revolving door of appointments when he resigned as deputy chairman in February 2014 to be appointed as a temporary High Court judge for one day so that he could deliver three outstanding judgments from his prior tenure as a judge. Later in the month of February 2014, he was re-appointed to the position of deputy chairman. He then resigned in May 2015 from this position.
All of these revolving door appointments in the positions of accountant and deputy chairman had an impact on the stability of the commission together with a change in the office of chairman in November 2014.
The latest resignations of Ventour and Dr Shelly-Ann Lalchan created the need for these positions to be filled. Dr Rowley took the view that the entire commission should have been disbanded. There was no logical basis for disbanding the rest of the commission seeing that the remaining members had been properly appointed and were quite willing to continue their service.
Rajiv Persad and Angela Young Lai are two good appointments to the commission, and one can only hope that the commission can settle down now and proceed with its work. The President correctly reminded the media that the appointments made after consultation do not have to have the agreement of either the Prime Minister or the Leader of the Opposition, but rather are appointments made at the discretion of the President.
The constitutional requirement to consult can assist the vetting process for the President, but at the end of the day, all of the choices are his and his alone. If he chooses to send a letter to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition three days before he makes an appointment or three weeks before he makes the appointment is a matter of presidential discretion.
His selection of individuals to hold high office does not carry with it any guarantees that they will perform efficiently or that they are up to the task. Time alone will tell.