Panday: UNC not divided on Chief Justice

Last Friday, Sharma was relieved of his duties as Chief Justice when President George Maxwell Richards invoked Section 103 of the Constitution and appointed Court of Appeal Judge Roger Hamel-Smith to act as Chief Justice until all legal matters pertaining to Sharma were resolved.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar was swift to condemn the President’s actions, claiming that Richards may have overstepped his bounds, did not engage her in meaningful consultation as required by Section 103 and had been influenced by the Government in making his decision.

In contrast, UNC Political Leader Winston Dookeran was more reserved in his comments on the President’s actions. While expressing concern about a political agenda at work in the Sharma affair, Dookeran refrained from condemning the President and advised that due process of law be allowed to take its course in this matter.

Asked yesterday whether he believed the statements made by Persad-Bissessar and Dookeran displayed the lack of a common approach by the UNC towards the Chief Justice controversy, Panday replied that this was not a matter for him to decide. He said if Persad-Bissessar and Dookeran had each made statements independently on the Chief Justic matter, then “the public will decide” which of those statements reflected the true position of the party and whether or not they were in sync with one another.

Asked when next he would be meeting with Dookeran to continue talks to heal divisions in the UNC, Panday said Dookeran asked him to give him the weekend “to ponder the issues” and would contact him about when next they would meet.