No parliamentary sitting, no dual citizenship MP resigned

Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs speaks with House Speaker, Dr. Barton Scotland (sitting). (File photo)

No parliamentary sitting has been scheduled for Thursday, April 11 or any other day, Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs said Tuesday.

Isaacs said usually six days notice are required before the 65-seat National Assembly meets. No such notice was received for Thursday and so far none for any other day.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon had said government had been contemplating holding a sitting on April 11, 2019 when all dual citizenship parliamentarians would be in attendance.

However, the Clerk of the National Assembly said no resignation was received from either the governing coalition or the opposition People’s Progressive Party which has three dual citizenship parliamentarians- Gail Teixeira, Odinga Lumumba and Adrian Annamayah.

Days later, government had announced that President David Granger had accepted the resignations of Harmon, Foreign Minister Carl Greenidge, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin and Minister of Public Service Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine. On the same day, government clarified that the resignations would take effect when the ministers submit them to House Speaker Dr. Barton Scotland.

The presence of dual citizenship parliamentarians in the House has come in for sharp focus after the High Court and Guyana Court of Appeal ruled that dual citizenship holders cannot run for elected office or be parliamentarians.

The State and private citizen Compton Reid had sought to challenge the validity of the no-confidence motion on the grounds that thrn defected government parliamentarian Charrandass Persaud, who had voted for the motion,  is a Guyanese-Canadian.

The Court of Appeal ruled that the no-confidence was invalid because it required an absolute majority of 34 seats to secure its passage instead of 33.

The Caribbean Court of Justice, Guyana’s final court of appeal, is expected to receive arguments before handing down a decision later this year.

The Guyana Elections Commission has been made a party in the related cases.