Ali awaits opposition word on chancellor, chief justice appointments, Norton unlikely to agree

Last Updated on Sunday, 26 October 2025, 12:57 by Writer

President Irfaan Ali was on Saturday afternoon was expected to receive a response from Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton on the way forward for the substantive appointments of Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire as chancellor and Justice Navindra Singh as chief justice.

Dr Ali said he has communicated with Mr Norton that he was proposing justices George-Wiltshire and Singh be appointed “in the same order”.

Repeated efforts to contact Mr Norton on Saturday proved futile as calls to his phone went unanswered.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall also did not answer calls.

However, a well-placed People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) source said Mr Norton was unlikely to agree with the President’s appointees because it appeared that Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards was forced out of her position as Chancellor of the Judiciary into early retirement.

Previously, Mr Norton had publicly stated his support for the appointments of justices George-Wiltshire and Cummings as chief justice and chancellor, respectively.

President Ali on Friday announced that Justice Cummings would be proceeding on pre-retirement leave from next week and that Justice George-Wiltshire would continue to act as chancellor and Justice Singh as chief justice.

The source said Mr Norton was inclined to leave the decision up to the incoming opposition leader, the embattled city businessman and leader of We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), Azruddin Mohamed.

Constitutionally, the opposition leader remains in place even after an election until the National Assembly’s opposition members of parliament elect a new office holder at a meeting after the general and regional elections.