October 29 ,2020
Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs last evening said he is seeking legal advice on the documentation submitted by Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond related to the renunciation of her US Citizenship.
“I received some documentation, I have looked at it and it is not as straightforward. And since I am not legally trained I am seeking legal advice before making any statement,” Isaacs told Stabroek News last evening when contacted.
Isaacs said that by way of letter he has since informed Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon that the matter is being looked at. He said the Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones had written him on the matter on behalf of Harmon.
“I have to be very careful on these matters,” Isaacs said.
The Minister had submitted the documentation after Isaacs had reached out to her on the issue.
“I reached out to the Minister and she made a submission to me which is on my desk,” Isaacs had told Stabroek News on Tuesday. He had stated then that he had not yet read the documents presented.
Questions about the Minister’s eligibility to sit in the National Assembly were first raised last Friday when opposition members claimed that she had not renounced her American citizenship before becoming a Member of Parliament (MP).
The APNU+AFC in a statement on Saturday went so far as to demand that she either produce a certificate dated before her swearing in or resign her position.
On that same day, Walrond said that two weeks after she was invited to join the cabinet she wrote to the US Consular office renouncing her US citizenship with immediate effect.
She said she was then informed of the administrative procedure she was required to comply with in order to obtain a Certificate of Loss of Nationality.
“I complied with that process by August 27. I have since received the Certificate of Loss of Nationality,” Walrond had said via a public statement.
She did not provide the date of this certificate. If the date was after her swearing in as a parliamentarian it would mean that she was illegally sworn.
On Monday when he was approached on the issue President Irfaan Ali had this to say: …I am very comfortable that Minister Oneidge did what she had to do. Minister Oneidge is an honourable woman and before she was sworn in she came and advised the president of her dual citizenship…”
Since Article 155 of the Constitution prohibits dual citizens from becoming MPs it has been argued that the President should have withdrawn the offer on learning of her status. He however did not and has said that his minister has nothing to hide as she is not in a category of persons who went to the elections on a slate and did not renounce their citizenship.
Walrond has been sworn in as a technocrat Minister under the provisions of Article 123 of the Constitution which states that she must comply with the requirement under Article 155.
The constitutional injunction against MPs holding dual citizenship was upheld in the case brought last year against Charrandass Persaud and which ended up at the Caribbean Court of Justice. Since then, political parties and Parliament Office have reiterated that dual citizens cannot sit in Parliament.
Isaacs had previously written to all members of the 12th Parliament asking that they submit documented proof that they were eligible to sit in the House before their swearing in. This information had been provided by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Gail Teixeira, Leader of the Opposition Joseph Harmon and Lenox Shuman.
