Dear Honourable Speaker:

ARTICLE 153 of the Guyana constitution states that: “A member of the National Assembly elected on a list shall cease to be a member of the Assembly if:

(a) “He or she declares in writing to the Speaker or to the Representative of the list from which his or her name was extracted, that he or she will not support the list from which his or her name was extracted.”
(b) “He or she declares in writing to the Speaker or to the Representative of the list from which his or her name was extracted, his or her support for another list.”

(c) Prior to the Constitution Amendment Act of 2007, Article 156.3, an original provision of the constitution, stated that “A member of the national Assembly elected on a list shall be disqualified from being a member of the Assembly, if he or she in the prescribed manner, declares that he or she will not support the list from which his or her name was extracted or, declares that he or she abstain from supporting that list or, declares his or her support for another list.” This original provision, Article 156.3, was repealed and replaced with the extant provisions of Article 153 by the Constitution Amendment Act of 2007. The amendment notwithstanding, the fundamental intent of the framers of the constitution remains applicable and paramount to the interpretation of the extant provisions of Article 153.

The constitution comprises binding rules which govern the organisation, powers and administration of government and society. The intent of the framers thereof is the jurisprudential standard for constitutional interpretation.

The framers of the Guyana constitution intended in Article 153 (a) and (b) that a member of the Assembly, elected by the people and extracted from his party’s list, cannot act against, refuse to support nor vote against the list from which he or she was extracted; and neither can a member vote for, with or in support of another list, without first declaring such intent to the Speaker in writing.

Article 153 (a) and (b) consequently mandates that any member who accordingly makes such declaration against the list from which he or she is extracted or in support of another list, shall cease to be a member of the National Assembly. The commission of an act against the list from which a member was extracted, as well as an act in support of another list, for which a written declaration was deliberately and deceitfully withheld from the Speaker, likewise violates the provisions of Article 153 (a) and (b), and similarly disqualifies such a member immediately from the Assembly, since the intention of the constitution is for the member to fully honour the content of Article 153 to the letter.

Evidently, Article 153 mandates that before a member acts against the list from which he or she was extracted, or in support of another list, a declaration of that intent must be first submitted to the Speaker, the consequence of which, or the failure to so declare, requires nullification of the act by the Speaker and disqualification of the member from the Assembly.

Article 153 therefore safeguards against the government side of the Assembly bringing itself down. It follows therefore, that a public withdrawal of support for the list from which a member was extracted and the public declaration of support for another list, with or without a declaration to the Speaker, automatically triggers or invokes Article 153 (a) and (b), and such member shall cease to be a member of the Assembly.

Honorable Speaker, on Friday, December 21, 2018, Mr.Charrandass Persaud, then a member of the Assembly, who was extracted from the APNU+AFC coalition list, voted in favour of the no- confidence motion that was tabled in the National Assembly by the parliamentary opposition, against the APNU+AFC coalition government of Guyana, enabling its passage. In so doing, Mr. Persaud publicly withdrew his support for the APNU+AFC coalition list from which he was extracted and declared his support for the PPP/C List.

Consequently, in accordance with Article 153 (a) and (b) of the Guyana constitution, it is the position of the C-GID, having consulted with several attorneys in Guyana and internationally, that Mr. Charrandass Persaud’s vote for the no-confidence motion against the government on December 21, is null, void and of no legal effect and should be vitiated.

The institute therefore respectfully solicits your review and sanction of this matter of urgent national importance.

Regards
Rickford Burke
President
Caribbean-Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)