Dr Bishnu Ragoonath: Cabinet should not make silk recommendations

UWI political scientist Dr Bishnu Ragoonath says Cabinet should not make recommendations to the President on which attorneys are to receive silk.

Contacted for comment after 17 attorneys were conferred this status by the President on Monday, Ragoonath said he could not comment about the qualifications of any of the 17.

"I don't know whether they deserve it or not. So I am only going to go with the assumption that they are deserving."

He recalled that attorney Israel Khan, SC, has a matter before the court, arguing that Cabinet should not be involved in making recommendations to the President on which attorneys should receive silk. Of Khan's argument, Ragoonath said, "I strongly hold to that view and what it clearly demonstrates."

He added that the appointment of silk to the President's husband and her brother bore similarity with the appointments of Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Anand Ramlogan as senior counsels in December 2011, when they were prime minister and attorney general, respectively.

Ragoonath said in both instances it was a case where a Cabinet decided who was deserving of silk.

"It will raise questions as to whether the Cabinet is favouring its own," he pointed out.

He added that Garcia and Kangaloo's senior counsel appointments are in no way unprecedented.

Asked if these appointments tarnish the President's ability to be impartial, Ragoonath said, "We cannot lay blame on the President. She is simply following the advice of the Cabinet."

Ragoonath reiterated, "We cannot ascribe these sorts of perspectives on the President."

He believed the role of the Cabinet – irrespective of the political party in government – being at fault and not the President. And this is the crux of the matter, "and I will leave it there."