THE MONTHLY GLEANER | APRIL 11 - MAY 11, 2024 | www.jamaica-gleaner.com | NEWS 6 Gov’t to appeal constitutional ruling against tenure of DPP [NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED] JUSTICE MINISTER Delroy Chuck says the Government will be appealing Friday’s decision by the Constitutional Court that the Director of Public Prosecutions’ extension was unconstitutional and will be seeking a stay so that Paula Llewellyn will remain in office until the matter is heard. Last July, the Constitution was amended to move the retirement ages of the DPP and the Auditor General from 60 to 65. Llewellyn, whose tenure would have ended in September that year as a result, was given two extra years to remain in office. However, Opposition lawmakers Phillip Paulwell and Peter Bunting took the issue to court. Consequently, an all-female panel of three judges, Justices Sonya WintBlair, Simone Wolfe Reece and Tricia Hutchinson Shell, who heard legal arguments last year, handed down the shocking decision on Friday morning. The court said the change in the Constitution in July 2023 to raise the age of retirement for the DPP and the Auditor General from 60 to 65 was valid. But, it said the amendment allowing Llewellyn to choose to remain was wrong. That section is “unconstitutional, null, void and of no legal effect,” said Wint-Blair in giving the oral ruling of the court. The justice minister stated that there are no plans in place at this time to appoint an acting DPP. A LOVE triangle was the alleged cause of the latest flare-up of violence among some Corporate Area schools, resulting in at least three students sustaining injuries and one institution closing its doors out of fear for those under its care. On Thursday, the principals of several of those schools were detained in meetings, clamouring for solutions to prevent further escalation. “This is unwanted, this is uncalled for, it has taken us by surprise. It shows that the students really have some violent tendencies,” Keven Jones, principal of Mona High School in St Andrew, told The Gleaner. According to him, a student from The Queen’s School, allegedly, had been involved in a relationship with a student from Calabar High School moved on to a relationship with a student from Mona High. The principal said that based on investigations, threats were being made to the student from his school, which culminated in a brawl between students of the two institutions at the Transport Centre in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, on Monday. The incident, which was captured on video, spilled on to the roadway, and one student from Mona High sustained injuries and was hospitalised. He has since been discharged. SCHOOLERS BRAWL forces shutdown A FORMER Jamaican ambassador says the diplomatic corps is likely to be “disturbed” by the dishonouring of two former prime ministers in a controversial post that appeared on the Instagram page of Alando Terrelonge, state minister in the foreign affairs ministry. Ambassador Curtis Ward, who served as deputy permanent representative of Jamaica to the United Nations between January 2000 and December 2001, said the minister dishonoured former prime ministers Portia Simpson Miller and P. J. Patterson when his job was to represent the entire country. He said the country’s two former leaders hold stellar reputations internationally, and, undoubtedly, Terrelonge’s action is likely to attract scrutiny. “But apart from that, the local diplomatic corps in Kingston does monitor the social media pages of the purveyors of Jamaica’s foreign policy. I think they would probably look at this as a stupid act,”said Ward. He said he hoped the junior minister’s response was truthful though outraged Jamaicans have said that it amounts to blame-shifting. Late Tuesday night, a photo was posted of Terrelonge in conversation with journalist Nadine White at the Jamaican High Commission in London. In the background of the picture, two Jamaican flag emojis were used to cover Simpson Miller and Patterson’s faces. The faces of Prime Minister Andrew Holness and former prime ministers Edward Seaga and Bruce Golding remained visible.. In an X post, which was accompanied by a photograph of him and Simpson Miller embracing, Terrelonge said he was advised of posts made by one of his team members with access to his social media. Terrelonge said the team member was instructed to immediately remove the posts, which had been up for hours ‘A STUPID ACT’
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