Dual citizenship

Jan 03, 2019 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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One month before the May 2015 General and Regional Elections, one newspaper published a letter under the name of Rafiq T. Khan. In that missive, Khan pointed out that the lists of the political parties contesting the elections contained the names of persons who hold dual citizenship and this, he contended, was in violation of the Constitution of Guyana.
So concerned was Mr. Khan that he indicated that he would not be exercising his democratic right to vote.
This issue of dual citizenship has once again resurfaced in light of reports that Member of Parliament, Charrandass Persaud, who voted in favour of a no-confidence is, apart from being Guyanese, also a Canadian citizen. It is being hinted that Charrandass’s dual citizenship could form the basis of a constitutional challenge to the no-confidence motion.
Such a challenge is not likely to succeed because, as has been explained elsewhere, if it is established that a person with dual citizenship cannot be a member of the National Assembly, then such a breach cannot invalidate the vote of no-confidence without at the same time invalidating all the ordinary Bills and motions which were passed using those persons votes.
The government will be opening a Pandora’s Box if it goes this route. It is believed that there are at least four other APNU+AFC parliamentarians, including three Ministers of the government, who hold dual citizenship. If they are expelled from the National Assembly, they will find it difficult to function as Ministers
In his letter three years ago, Khan detailed his arguments about the unconstitutionality of persons with dual citizenship being elected to the National Assembly. He noted that Article 155(1) of the Constitution states that: “No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who –
(a)is by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state…”
He recalled that the Court of Appeal of Jamaica, in the case of Dabdoub v Vaz et al, provided the clearest interpretation of an identical provision in that country’s Constitution. The Court of Appeal of Jamaica, he said, unanimously held that Jamaicans who by their own act sought and obtained citizenship in a foreign power or state, or not having so sought it, nevertheless voluntarily acknowledged allegiance to such countries were not qualified to sit in the House of Representatives.
The Jamaican Constitution allows Commonwealth citizens to sit in the House of Representatives. The Guyana Constitution, on the other hand, while not expressly allowing Commonwealth citizens to become members of the National Assembly, implicitly does.
Citizens of the Commonwealth resident in Guyana enjoy special rights under Guyana’s Constitution. Article 159 allows Commonwealth citizens resident in Guyana for one year prior to elections to be registered as electors. Article 59 allows Commonwealth citizens to vote in elections.
The question to be answered is whether, under Guyana’s Constitution, a Commonwealth country is considered a foreign country,
Using the logic of Dabdoub v Vaz et al, the following can be proffered:
The Constitution of Guyana does not expressly permit a non-Guyanese becoming a member of the National Assembly once that person swears allegiance to a foreign power. However what is not expressed can be implied.
Case law already establishes that obtaining citizenship in a foreign country is an act which involves the swearing of allegiance to that foreign state. Citizenship, in turn, allows one to hold a foreign passport and applying for either a foreign passport or a renewal of a foreign passport are means by which allegiance to a foreign country is confirmed.
A citizen of a foreign country is denoted as an alien. If a member of the National Assembly is not allowed to swear allegiance to a foreign country or power, it means that an alien will not be permitted to become a member of the National Assembly.
Article 155 of the Constitution of Guyana would seem to expressly provide that those aliens are prohibited from becoming elected members of Parliament. However, Article 232 of the Constitution of Guyana provides that a Commonwealth citizen, a British protected person or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland is not considered as an alien. Therefore, it is possible for a commonwealth citizen to become a member of Guyana’s National Assembly because such a citizen is not considered to be alien by the Constitution.
Canada is a Commonwealth country. Therefore by virtue of Article 232 of the Constitution, a citizen of Canada is not considered an alien in Guyana. As such, Canadian citizenship does not preclude someone from becoming a member of the National Assembly.
Information suggests that CharrandassPersaud is the holder of Canadian citizenship. It is therefore respectfully submitted that he is not disqualified from becoming a member of the National Assembly.

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