Parliament meets today for what is described as a mere formality, to confirm Justice Paula Mae-Weekes as this country’s sixth President.
There a sense of hope and anticipation of the country’s first female President. Senior criminal defence attorney Israel Khan SC said Weekes “subscribes to a very high standard, vis á vis the code of ethics of the legal profession, and she tolerates fools with quiet disapproval.”
Khan, who has known Weekes in a professional capacity for more than 30 years, said: “In her professional life as lawyer, judge and senior tutor, she has demonstrated that she possesses the necessary ability, merit and integrity in the performance of her duties. In my considered opinion, she will be an excellent President of the country. Fair and fearless.”
Weekes is a “no-nonsense person,” he said.
“If she is uncomfortable with untoward circumstances around her professional life, which she knows she cannot change, she will simply leave that environment. I say no more on this issue.”
Another senior legal practitioner Martin Daly SC described Weekes’ nomination as “an elegant stroke,” by Government. He said although at times the Rowley administration had appeared to be “vooping”, they finally seem to have “played a ball with the middle of the bat.”
Daily said Weekes “is not likely to suffer from judgeitis,” which describes how unaccustomed some judges are to the concept of accountability.
He said while he has no fear of Weekes’ transition to the presidency, this is not an easy time to be entering into high office given the state of things in the country.
“Where it is in her power to do so, in her own discretion she must make appointments without yielding to the traditional pressures of class and contact to appoint somebody’s relative or batch member for which they lack decorum, suitability or qualification and without due diligence checks,” he said
Former Independent Senator Diana Mahabir-Wyatt said the country’s first female President has “a good legal record, a good legal background and is a very calm, disciplined, steady person.”