THE responsibility of the newly appointed Foreign Secretary Carl Greenidge is primarily dedicated to protecting Guyana’s sovereignty full time. This was disclosed by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge who was this week re-assigned by President David Granger.

During an exclusive interview with the Department of Public Information, Foreign Secretary Greenidge described the responsibility as a prime and urgent concern since Guyana is still dealing with the Venezuela/Guyana border controversy. The matter is presently at the International Court of Justice for a juridical settlement.

“We have communication from the government of Venezuela pertaining to our maritime space and raising questions about activities within our maritime space, even offshore of Demerara and Berbice. So, you do not really get a break to take a breather and settle down, we in the ministry have been working,” Greenidge stated.

Additionally, he said that he is also in the process of renegotiating the Georgetown agreement. That is the agreement that brings 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) to collaborate with the European Union for development.

“We are working on that and there is a meeting of the Trade Ministers in this coming week to be followed by the Council of Ministers. So, my hands are pretty full and the main concern is to make sure that we do not lose any momentum as we do some of the organizational juggling,” Greenidge underscored.

On May 14, government announced that Greenidge was appointed Foreign Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and now has responsibility for the Department of Frontiers and Territorial Integrity and the Department of Trade and Economic Cooperation.

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 have been 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.

Greenidge was one of four members of the APNU+AFC Cabinet who resigned from their posts following last December’s motion. Dominic Gaskin, the former Minister of Business, Joseph Harmon, the former Minister of State and Dr Rupert Roopnaraine the former Minister of Public Service tendered their resignations to President David Granger as their dual citizenship status came to the fore following the rulings of the courts here.
The motion, which the Guyana Court of Appeal overturned following a ruling by Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire, is currently before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).