Yetming: Conditional UNC support for Govt

ST JOSEPH MP Gerald Yetming believes the United National Congress (UNC) should adopt a strategy of conditional support for special majority legislation, starting with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) legislation, when Parliament resumes next month.

Yetming told Newsday yesterday that such a strategy may serve the Opposition better than its current strategy of total non-cooperation with the Government on such legislation, and he intends to raise this issue when the UNC’s parliamentary caucus meets prior to next month’s resumption of Parliament.

Yetming reiterated that the UNC “ought to re-visit its position of arbitrary, non-support until there is constitutional reform” because that strategy was clearly not achieving the desired results. The Opposition MP said he still does not have “a clear picture” about whether or not he will support legislation to establish the CCJ as the country’s final appellate court because he has yet to obtain the facts. Asked if continued UNC opposition to the CCJ would work to the party’s benefit when the legislation is laid in Parliament, Yetming replied: “Maybe they (UNC) are better informed about the legislation than I am.”

Yetming said the one thing he was clear about was his non-support for a system where politicians influence appointments to the court. However, the St Joseph MP said given the various “schools of thought” on that issue, it was difficult to say whether there was any substance to allegations of politics being involved in last Thursday’s appointment of members of the Regional Judicial and Legal Service Commission (RJLSC). Chief Justice of Barbados, Sir David Simmons, rejected those allegations and Attorney General Glenda Morean-Phillip declared that critics of the CCJ were ignorant and misinformed.