Paray: Not too late to withdraw Kangaloo’s nomination

AS the countdown for the election of a President nears, Mayaro MP Rushton Paray says it is not to late for the Prime Minister and his government to withdraw its nominee, Christine Kangaloo.

“It is not too late for the Government to reconsider its candidate, and, in the interest of equity and good judgment, to nominate a non-partisan person with high national standing.

“Good governance demands that the nomination of Mrs Kangaloo be withdrawn,” Paray said in a statement.

The Opposition United National Congress (UNC) has nominated head of the Criminal Bar Association and one of the longest serving criminal defence attorneys Israel Khan, SC, to fill the post upon its vacation by the incumbent president Paula-Mae Weekes.

It has strongly expressed its objection to Kangaloo’s nomination based on her political history with the People’s National Movement (PNM).

Paray said the insistence by the Rowley government in nominating Kangaloo is an affront to the intended impartiality and independence of the highest office in the land.

“The framers of the national constitution clearly imagined the office of Head of State being occupied by a person of high accomplishment, stature, and objectivity.

“The President is expected to be above the political fray, with prestige and eminence, and a rigorously balanced perspective on national affairs.

“The fact that Ms Kangaloo, a practising politician, is being proffered as President, undermines these lofty ambitions of an even-handed, neutral and dispassionate office-holder.”

Paray said this is particularly worrying in the current national circumstances in which the Government has sought to undermine and politicise every national institution.

“It is not too late for the Government to reconsider its candidate, and, in the interest of equity and good judgment, to nominate a non-partisan person with high national standing.

“Good governance demands that the nomination of Ms Kangaloo be withdrawn.”