– she says he has “no power” to suspend her

LEADER of the Opposition, David Granger disclosed last Friday at A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) weekly press conference that despite claims by APNU Member of Parliament Vanessa Kissoon that he has no power to suspend her, he has done this while acting according to the PNCR constitution.Granger, who was asked to respond to Kissoon’s statement that he has “no power” to suspend her, replied with “I did”, explaining that he has already suspended her and his action is justified since he had acted within the PNCR constitution.

“God is in charge and I fear not” -Vanessa Kissoon

He said “I have operated always with advice in accordance with the constitution of the People’s National Congress (Reform)… any decision has to be ratified by the Central Executive Committee. I have never behaved outside

of the constitution.”
Kissoon however is maintaining that the Party’s Constitution, Article 27 INTERPRETATION CLAUSE ‘Under this Constitution’ (5) reads: “A power to appoint implies a power to suspend, dismiss or revoke.” As such she stressed that “I am a member of the PNCR and not an employee,” noting that the Leader of the Party did not appoint her and as such he has no power to suspend her.
In a statement issued by Kissoon recently, she also explained that Granger emailed her on 24th June saying that he had suspended her membership from the Party. However, this letter suspending her membership preceded the Central Executive Committee meeting held on 25th June, 2014. She said also that to date she had not received any correspondence from the Central Executive Committee.
When questioned whether Kissoon will be recalled as a Member of Parliament because of her opposition to the ruling of the party, Granger contended that he has not made such a consideration and does not believe the issue warrants such an extreme measure. He said “there is no hint, there is no suggestion, there is no threat that her status as a Member of Parliament would be in jeopardy.”
The Region 10 party’s representative is claiming that on June 20th, she was assaulted at Congress Place, the PNCR Headquarters, by the General Secretary Oscar Clarke who requested keys to the party’s Region 10 office. Kissoon, however, maintained that she was not in possession of the keys and had explained this to Clarke several times.
The Region 10 representative also disclosed that she was never asked by Granger what transpired on 20th June. “My 28th June response to Mr. Granger’s letter expressed concerns about the violation of the party constitution and my rights under the said constitution in addressing the matter,” she said.

(By Ravin Singh)