HGP Nightly News – Three consultation letters left President Irfaan Ali’s office, but on two major constitutional commissions, Attorney General Anil Nandlall says Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed’s camp responded with little more than: message received.
Speaking on his weekly programme, Issues in the News, Nandlall revealed that the President initiated consultations with Mohamed on July 24 over appointments to the Judicial Service Commission, Public Service Commission and Local Government Commission.
The letters were sent through Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira.
Nandlall’s disclosure followed questions about whether Ali had formally engaged Mohamed since he became Opposition Leader.
The President told reporters that whenever the Constitution required him to consult Mohamed, he would do so. According to the Attorney General, that process had already started.
The first letter concerned the Judicial Service Commission, whose previous membership had expired.
Certain members of that body are appointed following meaningful consultation between the President and Opposition Leader.
Nandlall said the correspondence informed Mohamed of the President’s intention to establish a new commission and invited his participation in the appointment process.
A second letter opened consultations on appointments to the Public Service Commission.
The third dealt with the Local Government Commission and was issued under the Local Government Commission Act.
Nandlall insisted that all three letters were carefully drafted to satisfy the relevant legal and constitutional requirements.
According to him, each letter specified how long the Opposition Leader had to respond and indicated when the President expected to make his decision.
Nandlall did not reveal those deadlines.
Mohamed reportedly acknowledged the three letters and authorised Opposition Chief Whip Tabitha Sarabo-Halley to respond on his behalf.
For the Local Government Commission, Sarabo-Halley submitted three names to the President.
But on the Judicial Service Commission and Public Service Commission, Nandlall said the replies simply acknowledged that the letters had been received.
“Out of the other two—Public Service and Judicial Service—a mere acknowledgment of receipt of the letter was received,” the Attorney General said.
“I don’t know what that means,” he added, before declining to comment further on what the President might make of the responses.
Nandlall stopped short of saying that Mohamed had formally refused to participate in the consultations.
An acknowledgment of receipt does not provide the substantive input sought, but it also does not automatically end the process. Whether the Opposition Leader can still submit a fuller response would depend on the deadlines contained in the letters and any subsequent communication.
Neither the letters nor the replies were made public during Nandlall’s programme.
Mohamed and Sarabo-Halley had also not publicly responded to the Attorney General’s version of the exchanges in the information available.
Meanwhile, Nandlall said work was continuing to identify suitably qualified candidates for appointment to the Police Service Commission.
Consultations with the Opposition Leader are expected to begin once that process reaches the appropriate stage.
The Attorney General argued that the three July letters demolished claims that Ali had failed to initiate constitutionally required engagement with Mohamed.
But while the letters may have opened the door, substantive consultation on two of the commissions appears, based on Nandlall’s account. yet to get beyond the President’s invitation and the Opposition’s acknowledgment.
Meanwhile, when contacted by Nightly News, General Secretary of We Invest in Nationhood, Odessa Primus, confirmed that the letters had been received.
She noted, however, that such requests are usually made for the Opposition Leader to nominate persons to serve on the commission, rather than for an in-person consultation.
