…Four ministers with dual-citizenship resign
…portfolios to be performed by cabinet colleagues
…PPP yet to honour court ruling

ALL four Government Members of Parliament with dual citizenship have resigned, while the Opposition Members of Parliament have refused to relinquish their seats, effectively disregarding the Constitution of Guyana, and the decisions of the courts.

Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal have indicated that it is unconstitutional for Members of Parliament to be dual citizens. To be a dual citizen in the National Assembly is a breach of Article 155 of the Constitution.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Ministry of the Presidency disclosed that President Granger received and accepted the resignations of all coalition Members of Parliament who are holders of dual citizenship. Those Members of Parliament are: Carl Greenidge, Joseph Harmon, Dominic Gaskin and Rupert Roopnaraine, who held ministerial portfolios respectively for Foreign Affairs, State, Business and Tourism and the Public Service.

By virtue of their resignations, they will not return to the National Assembly when it reconvenes on Thursday April 11, 2019, and have relinquished their ministerial portfolios. Harmon is a citizen of America while Greenidge, Gaskin and Roopnaraine are UK citizens.

“The Government of Guyana is committed to the upholding of the Constitution of Guyana and by virtue, the March 22, 2019 ruling of the Court of Appeal on the December 21, 2018 motion of no-confidence, which was brought against the government,” the Ministry of the Presidency stated.

While the government has taken a decision to abide by the Constitution, the Parliamentary Opposition – People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), has refused to let go of its MPs with dual citizenship. Its Chief Whip Gail Teixeira, a Canadian citizen, has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, although the Constitution bars against MPs having dual citizenship.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that a number of other opposition MPs including Adrian Anamayah and Odinga Lumumba are also citizens of other countries.

SMOOTH FUNCTIONING
In a separate statement issued later in the day, the Department of Public Information said “Cabinet is satisfied that the resignation of four ministers as Government Members of Parliament fully accords with the decision of the courts.”

It was explained that for the ensuing period, as is the usual practice, the now vacant ministerial portfolios would be held by sitting members of Cabinet who previously acted when those ministers were on leave or out of the jurisdiction.

“Following rulings by the High Court and the Guyana Court of Appeal, His Excellency President David Granger had sought Cabinet’s advice on how to definitively address the status of Members of Parliament who hold dual citizenship. The courts have held that it is unconstitutional for persons swearing allegiance to a foreign state or power to be eligible for election to Parliament,” Cabinet said

It said consequently, the four government MPs, who were also ministers, submitted to the President, their resignations from the House. “On reviewing this development, Cabinet described the action by the ministers as politically correct and as a demonstration of their respect for the rule of law,” it said.

REMAIN IN GOVERNMENT SERVICE
Though the ministers have resigned, they are to remain in government service. “While it is conceded that the Constitution strictly bars a person who holds dual citizenship from being an MP, they are not precluded from remaining in government service. This is a matter to be addressed by the President who will finalise ways in which the four resigned MPs will serve in government,” Cabinet explained.

Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman, who is acting in the capacity of Minister of State hours after the announcement was made, said the decisions were long in the making. “We of course were not prepared in the initial stages for this but in deep discussion it was determined that this is what was expected of us and so today’s announcement really is an announcement of a decision that has been taken sometime before,” Trotman explained in a televised statement.

He said Guyanese can rest assure that the government will abide by the Constitution and the rulings of all Courts – from the Magistrate’s Court to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The Natural Resources Minister, as stated by DPI, noted that the now vacant ministerial portfolios would be held by sitting members of Cabinet. While acknowledging the contributions of the four former members, Trotman said while they will no longer sit in the National Assembly or act in the capacity of a minister, they will continue to function within the government.

“As I said, they are not gone all together from government, they are only resigning from the National Assembly…,” the minister posited.

On Tuesday, Cabinet thanked the four resigned MPs for their yeoman and exemplary service to the people of Guyana and said it looks forward to their future contributions in their new roles. Within days, names from the APNU+AFC Coalition list of candidates will be extracted to fill the vacancies of the MPs who have resigned their seats.

Minister Trotman assured that the government remains functional and remains in capable hands. Amid suggestions by the opposition that the government is crumbling, Minister Trotman assured that the President Granger remains President and the government remains intact.

CHARRANDASS VOTE
The issue of MPs with dual citizenship status became a subject of discussion and legal action last December after Charrandass Persaud, a then Government MP, used his seat in the National Assembly to vote in favour of the opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion, that was intended to topple the government. At the time, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland, had declared the motion passed by a majority of 33.

Subsequently, a farmer from New Amsterdam, Compton Reid, challenged the validity of the vote on the grounds that Persaud breached the Constitution when he sat in the house as a dual citizen. Reid, through his attorneys, Senior Counsel Rex McKay and Neil Boston,

argued that Persaud was not eligible for membership of the National Assembly and ought not to be in the House on the night of December 21, 2018. While the Courts have upheld the vote cast by Persaud, who has since been recalled from the National Assembly, they have indicated that it is unconstitutional to be a MP and hold dual citizenship at the same time.