DIRECTOR-GENERAL of the Ministry of The Presidency, Joseph Harmon, has successfully relinquished his US citizenship, and is now “fit and proper” to return to the National Assembly as a Member of Parliament.

Harmon, the former Minister of State, was among four government ministers with dual citizenship, who tendered their resignations on April 1, 2019, in keeping with the indications of the High Court and the Court of Appeal that it is unconstitutional for a person who swore allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state to be a Member of Parliament.

At a press conference at the Ministry of the Presidency on Thursday, Harmon said that upon his resignation from office, he submitted an application to the US Embassy here in Georgetown, Guyana, asking that his citizenship be relinquished.

“I got a response from the United States, which came on the 8th October, indicating to me that with effect from the 31st July, 2019, that my application was approved and therefore my US citizenship has now gone through the window,” Harmon told reporters.

Positing that he is now “GT to the bone,” the Director-General said that like any other Guyanese, he would be required to apply for a visa, in the event that he needs to travel to the US.

Last month, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, confirmed that his British citizenship was renounced. Greenidge, who serves as Foreign Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said he now looks forward to being included on the list of candidates from which the governing APNU+AFC will make its selection of Members of Parliament (MPs) at the Regional and General Elections in 2020. Dominic Gaskin, former Minister of Business and Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, former Minister of Public Service, had also resigned.
In the Opposition, PPP/C’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira– a Canadian citizen who served as a Member of Parliament since 1992– Adrian Anamayah and Odinga Lumumba, were also forced to resign for being dual citizens in the National Assembly. In the case of Teixeira, reports suggest that she has relinquished her Canadian citizenship.

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.