Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday said the High Court judgement that invalidated the appointment of Gary Griffith as acting Commissioner of Police was a “landmark” decision and showed that the Constitution was working.
Speaking at a media conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Port-of-Spain soon after the ruling by High Court Judge Nadia Kangaloo, Persad-Bissessar said,“Mr Griffith’s acting appointment was unconstitutional and illegal and has been declared null and void and of no legal effect.”
She said that this ruling now proved that Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi was wrong and that he needed to demit office.
She said the 2009 order and the 2021 order, both drafted by the People’s National Movement Government, were struck down by the courts.
“This judgement vindicates the position that we have taken on this matter. This judgement means that both the ‘09 order and the 2021 were ultra vires, illegal and unconstitutional.
“There is no Commissioner of Police in our land, there is no acting Commissioner of Police as we speak. The appointment of (DCP McDonald) Jacob is null and void because of the order that he was appointed under,” Persad-Bissessar said.
Persad-Bissessar recalled Al-Rawi’s “arrogance and pompous words” to defend the order he drafted and brought to Parliament in 2021.
She recalled and quoted the AG in Parliament defending the drafting of the order.
“Faris is unfit to hold office. He no longer has any credibility and that, coupled with his recusals and his rentals and coupled with this illegal indemnity,” she said, referring to the alleged document indemnifying State witness Vincent Nelson QC in a case against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan.
“The public cannot have the trust and confidence in him as the guardian of the public interest, as the person who looks after the public, we do not have that trust, we cannot after all this has happened.”
Persad-Bissessar also once again called on President Paula-Mae Weekes to stop being the “poster girl” for the Prime Minister.
“Speak up! Don’t stand up there and block this thing, don’t be his poster girl, you are a brilliant woman,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar also again called on the Prime Minister to come clean on the alleged meeting at the Office of the President on August 12 with then chair of the Police Service Commission Bliss Seepersad and the alleged interception of the CoP merit list that was supposed to pass to the President and then to Parliament for debate.
Despite the ruling, Persad-Bissessar said Griffith was probably the best person for the job.
“This whole game is to get Gary (Griffith) out, one of the best Commissioners we ever had. All the things that have unfolded, it’s like a deliberate conspiracy to get Gary out. Why? One of the best Commissioners,” she said.
She said while she held “no brief” for Griffith, she believed in giving “a man a jacket when he deserves it.”
The Office of the President submitted two names for the Police Service Commission for debate - retired Justice Judith Jones and Maxine Attong, but Persad-Bissessar did not respond to the President on them. Yesterday, she said that while it was customary to be given between one to two weeks to do her due diligence, the President only gave her two days to respond to the nominations.
“Especially with the collapse of the Service Commission, it (due diligence) becomes even more critical. Two days?” she said.
Guardian Media has learned that the Office of the President will be issuing a statement on this matter very soon.