Shuman denies being dumped by GECOM
Presidential Candidate of LJP, Lennox Shuman
Presidential Candidate of LJP, Lennox Shuman

…says was given ultimatum to submit proof of relinquishment of Canadian citizenship

LEADER and Presidential Candidate of the Liberty and Justice Party has sought to dispute reports that he was dumped from the elections candidate list due to his dual citizenship, saying instead he was asked by the Guyana Elections Commission to provide proof of his claims that he had relinquished his Canadian citizenship.

In a release on Thursday, Shuman referred to reports in sections of the news media that GECOM had taken him off the list of Presidential Candidates for the upcoming March 2nd elections.

This information, Shuman said, is “grossly incorrect.” “The Liberty and Justice Party would like to inform the press that we received a letter from the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission, Justice Claudette Singh SC, on Wednesday 22nd January 2020. The letter requested confirmation of Mr. Shuman’s citizen status to further guide any future decision on the possibility of removing Mr. Shuman as a candidate from the Party’s list. The LJP will comply with the letter’s January 31 deadline for submission of this information,” Shuman said in his release.

“The Liberty and Justice Party wishes to thank the GECOM Chair and staff for their continued professional interaction with the LJP.” Shuman said in this election cycle, many false stories will be published without due diligence to mislead the voting public. “This week’s media content is an attempt by the larger parties to discredit and diminish support for the smaller parties. The LJP reiterates our position as outlined at our party launch, that the LJP will always adhere to its Constitution and the Laws of Guyana. Other agents will try to make you think this is not the case. This is the pure definition of election propaganda. The LJP urge the public and our supporters to be aware and dismiss fake news…”
This newspaper reported, on Wednesday, that GECOM had taken the decision to remove Shuman; presidential candidate of the URP, Dr. Vishnu Bandhu and presidential candidate of the PRP, Dr Valerie Leung. “The lists were gazetted but the commission’s decision was that Dr. Bandhu, Mr. Shuman and Mrs. Leung, their names have to be taken off those lists because when they put their names there, they were all dual citizens,” Commissioner Bibi Shadick told media operatives following Tuesday’s statutory meeting of the electoral body.
She explained that while the lists were gazetted, corrections will be made to reflect the decision. The same was confirmed by Commissioner Robeson Benn who said that the police have now been notified about the matter. “The police were written or should have been written with respect to these persons who have made false declarations in respect of their dual-citizen status. Mr. Bandhu of the URP did send to the commission, through its secretariat, information saying that he had renounced his United States citizenship but, unfortunately, that information came to the commission after Nomination Day, so it is not valid for the purposes of the elections as far as we understand,” Benn said, adding: “We have notified the police and it’s for them to take what action they deem as appropriate in the circumstance.”

The Statutory Declaration form signed by Dr. Bandhu and Dr. Leung for presidential candidates first confirmed that they are aware of the provisions of articles 53 and 155 of the Constitution with respect to the qualifications for election as a Member of the National Assembly. Article 155 of the Constitution states: “(1) No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who – (a) is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”

The statutory form also requested that they “solemnly and sincerely declare” that they are citizens of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana; citizens of Guyana by birth or parentage; residents of Guyana on the date of nomination for election; continuously residing in Guyana for a period of seven years immediately before Election Day and qualified to be elected as a Member of the National Assembly. According to the Statutory Declaration Act, Chapter 5:09: “Everyone who makes a declaration according to this Act containing any statement false in fact, which he knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for one year.”

While Dr. Bandhu is contending that he relinquished his foreign status as of January 16, 2020, Commissioner Vincent Alexander said on Tuesday that the same does not count, as he had signed the Statutory Declaration form on Nominations Day, January 10, 2020. “The situation is that if someone had not made a proper, correct and authentic declaration and at the time of the date for that declaration is in default, then that person is not eligible to be on the list. That’s the principle,” Commissioner Alexander said. “That application requires a declaration. I would assume that at the time of that declaration you have to be in compliance and the fact of the matter is that all of the evidence show that when signing the declaration, Dr. Bandhu was not in compliance.”

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