— Dawn Hastings-Williams appointed Minister of State; Haimraj Rajkumar– Minister of Business and Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, Public Service Minister

— Broomes reassigned to Ministry of the Presidency; Patterson-Yearwood to ministry of agriculture and Ferguson to Ministry of Communities

PRESIDENT David Granger on Thursday announced several new ministerial appointments as well as the reassignment of several junior ministerial portfolios as government reaffirms its commitment to serve the people and the nation.

Member of Parliament (MPs) Haimraj Rajkumar has been appointed Minister of Business. He replaces fellow Alliance For Change (AFC) colleague, Dominic Gaskin.
Dawn Hastings-Williams, who previously served as Minister within the Ministry of Communities, and recently as Minister of Public Affairs, has been appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency.

Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, an executive member of the Working Peoples’ Alliance (WPA) has been appointed Minister of Public Service in the Ministry of the Presidency. Sarabo-Halley replaces Dr Rupert Roopnaraine.

The President also announced that Member of Parliament (MP) and Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, has been reassigned as Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing, replacing MP Valerie Patterson-Yearwood, who has been shifted to the Ministry of Agriculture with responsibility for rural affairs.

MP Simona Charles-Broomes is now the minister in the Ministry of the Presidency with responsibility for youth affairs. Broomes had served as Junior Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources. It is her second reassignment since the government came to power. Broomes started off as Junior Minister of Social Protection.

According to the President, the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana is the country’s supreme law. He said adherence to the Constitution is an essential element of democratic governance and the maintenance of public trust.

“Your Government is committed to upholding the Constitution unreservedly,” the President stated. He made reference to the January’s ruling by Chief Justice, Roxanne George-Wiltshire in the case of Compton Reid v. Speaker of the National Assembly et al, when she declared that it was unconstitutional for a person holding dual citizenship to be elected as a Member of Parliament. This ruling was affirmed by the Court of Appeal on March 22, 2019.

DUTY-BOUND
“I have a duty to ensure that the Government acts in accordance with the Constitution at all times.  I have, in accordance with the Courts’ rulings, accepted the resignations of Mr. Carl Greenidge, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Dominic Gaskin, Minister of Business; Mr Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency and Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Minister of the Public Service in the Ministry of the Presidency. These resignations take effect on 25th April 2019,” the President stated.

Cabinet stated recently that for the ensuing period following the resignations of the four ministers, as is the usual practice, the ministerial portfolios, when they become vacant, would be held by sitting members of Cabinet who previously acted when those ministers were on leave or out of the jurisdiction. Such is expected to be the case of the foreign affairs portfolio.

While expressing appreciation for the services given by the four officials, the President noted on Thursday that their contributions have been to the nation’s benefit. Following the resignation of the ministers, President Granger had explained that the replacement of MPs can be done only when those MPs submit their letters of resignation to the Speaker of the National Assembly as prescribed by the Constitution of Guyana.

Article 156 (1) (A) of the Constitution states that “A member of the National Assembly shall vacate his or her seat therein – if he or she resigns it by writing under his or her own hand addressed to the Speaker or, if the Office of the Speaker is vacant or the Speaker is absent from Guyana, to the Deputy Speaker.”

Another section of the Article stipulates that an MP ceases to be a member of the National Assembly if 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. Once a resignation letter is submitted to the Speaker, by virtue of Article 156 (4), he will declare the seat of the Member of the National Assembly vacant.