…admits knowing he was unqualified to be MP

…CCJ grants AG leave to file new application to adduce fresh evidence

THE Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has granted the government permission to present new evidence and submissions to the court which prove that expelled Member of Parliament (MP), Charrandass Persaud, knew that he was unqualified to sit in the National Assembly.

The evidence, a Youtube video of a talk show programme, shows Persaud openly admitting that, even before he became an MP, he was well aware that he was unqualified for the position. One of the matters which have been contested in the consolidated appeals, challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal to invalidate the vote of no-confidence, was whether Persaud knew that he was unqualified to sit in the National Assembly.
On Thursday, June 6, 2019, an urgent notice of application was filed by Belizean Senior Counsel, Eamon Courtenay, representing Attorney General, Basil Williams, S.C in the appeals.

While arguments for the consolidated appeals ended on May 10, 2019, the CCJ rules allow for new evidence to be provided to the court, should such be justified and proven to be relevant to the outcome of the appeal. Courtenay therefore applied: for permission to add new evidence; permission to make new submissions; in request that an order be granted for further submissions to be made in writing and that the new evidence be dealt with without a hearing amongst other requests.

A draft of the order sought was attached to the application, while an affidavit presented by the State Solicitor, Public Trustee/Official Receiver of Guyana, Jennifer McCalman, explained, in detail, the extent of the new evidence. McCalman defended the new evidence as “credible”, “relevant” and likely to be influential to the court’s ultimate decision, to which the CCJ acceded.

In the affidavit presented, McCalman stated that the document was being filed on behalf of the Attorney General, who had authorised that she swears it on his behalf. Therein, she stated that on June 5, 2019, she was informed by the AG that on June 3, 2019, he was made aware of a Youtube video by user ‘Globespan 24×7’ entitled ‘Conflict of Interest of Guyana’ in which Persaud was interviewed and disclosed knowledge of the same.

On the panel, moderated by one Marketing Executive and Political Strategist, Salaudeen Nausredeen, were Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President, Nicholas Boyer; International Financial Strategist, Sasenarine Singh; Political Strategist at the University of the West Indies, Dr. Bishnu Ragoonath and Persaud.

According to McCalman, the almost two-hour long programme, also featuring a call-in segment, was dedicated to discussing the hearing of the consolidated appeal which concluded just the day before. In the video seen by the Guyana Chronicle, Persaud called in exactly at 30 minutes, 28 seconds and the question was posed to him by the Moderator at 36 minutes, 02 seconds. During the discussion, Charrandas told the moderator: “I knew that people with dual citizenship could not hold a seat in parliament. That was a given, that’s a constitutional article that we can’t get away from. What I did in fact argue, and when I told Khemraj, I said that I have a Canadian passport, Khemraj said ‘rass with you, a lot of people have Canadian passports, look at Gail Teixeira’ and that’s what he said.”

McCalman said in the affidavit that it was the first time – having known Persaud since 2000 – that she had heard him admit that he was aware that persons with dual citizenship are unqualified to sit in the National Assembly. “I have known Mr. Charrandass Persaud for 19 years, since the year 2000 when we began studying as undergraduates at the University of Guyana reading for the Bachelor of Laws Degree Programme. Having known him for so many years and seeing and hearing him whenever I attended the National Assembly with the Hon. Attorney General, I recognised the person speaking on the programme as Mr. Charrandass person, one of the appellants in these consolidated appeals,” McCalman told the court.

She stated too, that to the best of her knowledge, the AG was not aware of the Youtube video until it was brought to his attention on June 3, 2019 by one Sean Ramdeholl.
“I am informed by the Hon. Attorney General and verily believe, that on June 3, 2019, he shared the URL of the programme with Mr. Eamon H. Courtenay SC and sought his advice as to whether an application to adduce the new evidence could and should be made,” McCalman stated. “Based on the advice of Mr. Courtenay, this application is being made.”

The affidavit also stated that up until the provision of the new evidence, the AG had relied on “circumstantial evidence” to prove that Persaud knew that he was unqualified to sit in the House. The affidavit marks McCalman second in the proceedings.

Given permission to proceed, the Draft Oder, which bore the approval of the Deputy Registrar and Marshal of the CCJ stated: “And upon reading the Notice of Application to adduce new evidence dated June 6, 2019 and the Second Affidavit of Jennifer Ayana McCalman sworn to on the June 6, 2019; it is ordered that: (a) Permission is granted to adduce new evidence which has recently become available to the Attorney General and which will probably have an important influence on the outcome of this appeal…”
The Attorney General has indicated, through McCalman, that he does not believe that the application necessitates an oral hearing and has asked the court to “dispose of the application on paper”.

During the hearing of the consolidated appeals by the CCJ on May 9 and 10, 2019, Belizean Senior Counsel, Eamon Courtenay, shot down arguments made by Trinidadian Attorney-at-Law, Douglas Mendes, who upon representing the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, told the Court that Charrandass Persaud’s vote in the National Assembly was saved by the De Facto Doctrine, though he was a dual citizen in the House, in total breach of the Constitution. Senior Counsel Courtenay is representing the Attorney General in the case.
The de facto doctrine validates an action on the basis that the person in question did not know that a provision was breached. But, Senior Counsel Courtenay, in shutting down the arguments made by Mendes, provided evidence that Persaud took an oath to be elected a Member of Parliament, knowing that he is a dual citizen.

Describing Persaud as an imposter and usurper, Courtenay, pointed out that he (Charrandass Persaud) signed a Statutory Declaration, prior to the 2015 Regional and General Elections, that he was aware of Article 53 and Article 155 – of which the latter prohibits Members of Parliament from being dual citizens.

In support of his position, the Belizean Senior Counsel noted that not only is Persaud an Attorney-at-Law, but just before and after signing the declaration, travelled on his Canadian passport. He concluded that Persaud was fully aware that he was not eligible to a Member of Parliament but nonetheless, took up a seat in the National Assembly, in total breach of the Constitution.

“The matter before this court arises from a person who is a serial violator of the Constitution of Guyana and who the Leader of the Opposition is seeking to benefit from Constitutional violations by Mr. Persaud in order to bring down the Government of Guyana that is led by a party that Mr. Persaud is elected on,” he told the court. Senior Counsel Courtenay therefore asked the CCJ to affirm the decision of the Court of Appeal and rule that the no-confidence motion was invalid.