Monday, January 19, 2009

Doodnauth Finally Goes, Who Replaces Him?

With the impending retirement (finally) of our Honorable Attorney General at the end of this month, speculation is rife about his possible replacement. Mr. Singh has served this country very long, too long some say. It’s more than time for him to call is quits and while he is at it, he can carry Rohee, Baksh and Jagan with him into the retirement era where they can collect their old age pension (Yay, the President recently raised that figure by about $300, Yay).

Mr. Singh was very respected during his lengthy career (50 years to be exact) in the legal profession and deserved most of the accolades and plaudits that he received, with maybe the possible exception of the post of Attorney General that was gifted to him in 2001. That post given to him after he presided over one of the most destructive elections in this Nation’s history, was suspicious, questionable and cast severe doubts on his character and reputation. For the eight years that he held on to the position, it can be argued that Mr. Singh did very little to make the law, and the legal system any better.
Now that he is vacating his post however, the rumor mill is busy with suggestions of possible replacements and three names keep popping up. Anil Nandalall, Charles Ramson and Ralph Ramkarran.

The most popular of these names for the position would be Anil, who has been touted as the next AG for so long. The thing though, is that Anil hasn’t done much to enhance his career enough to deserve the top position and while his skills are thought to be competent enough, he still comes across as wild and irresponsible at times and does not have the backing of many in the profession. Probably the biggest hindrance to Anil is his personal life (well those things don’t matter to this regime).

Mr. Charles Ramson is the least favorite of the three, a former AG, now Appellate Court Judge. This man has been a legal practitioner for a great many years and while he is thought to be very good, especially in land law matters, his biggest problem is his big mouth and his oversized ego. Ramson, thinks that he is best there is, God’s gift to mankind and he has no problems preaching that sermon to time after time. He is difficult to work with, and those of you who can remember the upheaval that he had that place in the last time he occupied the AG post would be certain that a repeat is very far from being desired. I hope the President takes Ramson’s past tenure into consideration when making his decision.

Mr. Ramkarran, the esteemed Speaker of the House. Mr. Ramkarran, is one of the most outstanding attorneys in the country and while he is a member of the ruling PPP, he has performed quite credibly in his post as Speaker, displaying utmost levels of professionalism and fairness. Anyone remember that little incident with himself and Rohee in Parliament last year? It exemplifies the fact that Mr. Ramkarran is not afraid of breaking with party ranks in order to be fair, a trait that many of his fellow PPP members sorely lack. It is for that reason that finding detractors of Mr. Ramkarran’s character, reputation, and abilities are few and far to come by.
However, with his job as speaker of the House respected and secure, a lucrative private practice it is hard to imagine that he would leave that post to take up one at AG chambers, especially considering that he’s rumored to be harboring thoughts of being the next President. It is for that reason that he’s unlikely to be the choice, although he is the best choice.

Finally, it has been suggested that Mr. President, might make a benevolent step and choose someone from outside the core ranks of PPP supporters, if so, this would be very welcomed as it would be a small sign that the Government is willing to reach out to other groups. I guess we have to wait and see, time will tell.

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