National Assembly to sit on April 11…All Govt. MPs with dual citizenships to attend

Mar 30, 2019 News

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The National Assembly will have a sitting on April 11 with all Government parliamentarians, including those who have dual citizenships, to attend, says Minister of State, Joseph Harmon.
According to the minister, while there will be a sitting, it will be unlikely that the Members of Parliament (MPs) will be immediately dealing with matters of funding for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
GECOM has asked for $3.5B to carry out preparations for early elections, heralded by a December 21 no-confidence vote tabled by the Opposition that was deemed carried but challenged in the courts at the moment.
Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George had ruled that the vote of 33-32 was properly carried.
It was found after the December 21 vote that quite a number of parliamentarians, on both sides of the House, had dual citizenship.
Justice George in her rulings also said that the Government parliamentarian, Charrandass Persaud, should not have been sitting as a parliamentarian, as having dual citizenship conflicts with the Constitution of Guyana.
The Court of Appeal last week, in a majority decision, deemed the vote not carried.
The dual citizenship issue was not challenged. This and other cases involving the legality of the vote is being handled by the Caribbean Court of Justice at the moment.
The court is expected to hear the matter on May 10.
Yesterday, questioned about whether the Government has taken a collective decision on the dual citizenship, Minister Harmon confirmed that the next date for the sitting of the National Assembly will be on April 11, 2019.
“The question of dual citizenship is a matter which is hot in the media right now and therefore, I believe it is important that we clarify this matter. I must say to you, that this matter has engaged the attention of the High Court of Guyana; it has engaged the attention of the Court of Appeal and it is also a matter which has been appealed to the Caribbean Court of Justice as one of the grounds for appeal.”
Harmon; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge; Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin and Minister Rupert Roopnaraine are among the government officials said to have dual citizenship.
According to Harmon, yesterday, the attorneys representing the state will advise the Government with respect to the situation with members of the Government who are dual citizens.
“…So in that regard, I will say that this matter is still engaging the attention and Cabinet has not made a ruling on it. It is contemplated that on April 11, 2019 when the National Assembly sits, that all the members of the Government side will be there.”
Asked to explain the Government’s reasoning for not wanting to uphold the Court’s decision on dual citizenship even though that is under appeal as is the passage of the no-confidence motion, Minister Harmon had this to say about being “duplicitous:
“Well you know the Opposition Leader (Bharrat Jagdeo) has accused us of many things that he himself is guilty of, but I am not sure that those labels accurately describe us as an administration. I see nothing duplicitous about it.
“The fact of the matter is that that Court of Appeal has dealt with the matter and the matter is now under appeal at another level. In so far as we are concerned, the Court of Appeal has made a determination on all of the matters before it and so we will abide by what the Court of Appeal has said.”
Harmon said that if at the level of the CCJ these matters are dealt with and they are definitively pronounced upon, then certainly Government will abide by what the court says.
Asked pointedly, “When did you realise that you were sitting illegally in the National Assembly by virtue of being a dual citizen,” Minister Harmon replied: “What kind of question is that? I am not illegal. I am representing constituents. I do not sit there on my own.
“Members who are in the National Assembly sit there as representatives. First of all, you are extracted from a list and that list is made up of persons who would have actually been elected within their parties When you sit there, as a matter of fact, our Parliament in its present configuration you sit there and represent close to 5,500 persons so you cannot on your own, get up one day and say no I am not sitting here anymore.”
Harmon insisted that he is a representative.
“I am a representative of a list and a list that represents people so I cannot tell you I am illegal or if I am going to do this. These are matters that have to be discussed at the level of the Government, at the level of the parties and then those decisions are made.”

 

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