Mark Golding has a few more words for embattled Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn: Step forward now and decline the offer or invitation to continue as Jamaica’s number one prosecutor.

The leader of the Opposition and President of the People’s National Party made the suggestion during an interview with the Jamaica Observer at the end of a news conference at his offices last week, held to address what his party described in its invitation to the media as an address to the nation “as it relates to justice, the constitution, and national security”.

Golding said that Llewellyn should make the decision while noting to herself all the concerns from the Opposition and “other people” about how the extension of her tenure was handled by the Government.

“I actually think that would be the appropriate and right thing to do. She is aware that in 2020 when the whole question of an extension was raised, the then Leader of the Opposition Dr Peter Phillips had objected to the extension and had done so formally in a letter which listed a number of points supporting the position that was being taken on that matter.

“So I don’t think that any DPP should like to hold office when he or she does not enjoy the confidence of the persons who are, by the constitution, involved in the process of appointing or extending that.

“If I were her, I would certainly take the opportunity to decline any further extension of office and move on to whatever it is she wants to do next in life. As I have said, there are other people who can be identified and there should be a transparent process of trying to choose a successor,” Golding said.

Other officials of the party — Senator Donna Scott Mottley, Anthony Hylton, and Senator Peter Bunting — also voiced their disapproval of the manner in which the Government, in lightning fashion, pushed a Bill through the House of Representatives last Tuesday that paved the way for Llewellyn and Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis to retire at age 65, with a further provision of extending that to age 70.

It is uncertain if in the case of Monroe Ellis, she was consulted by the Government in respect of extending her years in office, or if she has an interest in working beyond age 60.

While Monroe Ellis, a thorn in the side of respective political administrations through her department’s annual reports that usually unearth countless breaches by State institutions, is in her early 50s, Llewellyn will turn 63 in September. She had received an initial three-year extension of her tenure in 2020, just before she turned 60. Some members of the legal fraternity have even questioned the constitutionality of having her time in office extended on a second occasion.

Comments made by Llewellyn against anti-corruption organisation the Integrity Commission at an event in Manchester last month raised eyebrows in the legal and judicial fraternity, with some telling the Sunday Observer that they found it strange that the holder of the office of the DPP would criticise the commission in the manner in which she did.

She said that integrity watchdogs, like the Integrity Commission, must meet the highest standards.

“As the head of any entity that has the power to make negatives or adverse decisions against anybody, which may negatively affect their reputation or their liberty, it is critical that you are fair and that your processes are transparent and can stand up to scrutiny,” she said.

The Integrity Commission, which reports to the Jamaican Parliament, has been involved in a fuss with members of the Government side of the legislature, mainly over reports submitted that did not project Government officials in what some determine as a positive light.

Some institutions and organisations said, in their own styles, that the DPP was out of order to have seemingly attacked the commission.

“Even if it were with the best of intentions, it is unfortunate that Paula Llewellyn inserted herself into the scrap between the Integrity Commission and members of the Holness Administration and appears to have taken sides,” The Gleaner newspaper wrote in its editorial of Monday, July 3.

“Ms Llewellyn left little doubt that she disapproves of the conduct of the Integrity Commission, aspects of whose internal decision-making on matters of law she can be asked to advise on. So, with her public chiding of the commission, a largely coequal agency, the DPP will likely raise questions in several quarters about her judgement, and probably her impartiality and intention,” the editorial stated.

Only days ago Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Kathy Ann Pyke, a one-time close associate of Llewellyn, wrote to Prime Minister Andrew Holness appealing to him not to extend the DPP’s tenure.

Llewellyn responded by labelling Pyke, among other things, as eccentric.

Llewellyn has been serving as DPP for 15 years, having succeeded Kent Pantry, KC, with whom she did not have the best of working relationships.

For Golding, some things do not add up.

“I don’t trust this Government, I don’t trust their motives for doing the things that they do. They will put forward a smokescreen as to why they are doing something to distract the population from the reality of why it’s being done. So as far as I am concerned, they want to preserve the status quo because of what they are aware or what they suspect to be facing them. I think that, that is a very unfortunate and dark situation for the country to be in.”