PRESIDENTIAL candidate of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), Lenox Shuman, though not presenting any evidence, said his Canadian citizenship was renounced on January 9, 2020 – one day before Nomination Day.

During a press conference at the LJP’s Kingston Office, Shuman explained that he applied to the Canadian High Commission on December 11, 2019 to have his citizenship renounced – a process that came to an end on January 9, 2020.

“Yesterday I received a copy of the document that was certified by Her Excellency, the Canadian High Commissioner, that stated that the process was complete and that I had successfully relinquished my Canadian citizenship as of January 9, 2020. That document is lodged at GECOM,” Shuman told reporters.

Shuman’s pronouncement on this matter comes weeks after commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) had informed the press that Shuman and two other presidential candidates had been removed from their parties’ Lists of Candidates due to their citizenship status.

All candidates are required to sign a Statutory Declaration, indicating that, among other things, they are not citizens of another country. Article 155 of the Constitution states: “(1) No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who – (a) is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”

It was alleged that Shuman fraudulently signed the Statutory Declaration but on Tuesday, he maintained that he is no longer a Canadian citizen, and is therefore eligible to contest the General and Regional Elections as a candidate.

Although presidential candidates for two other parties were named by GECOM commissioners to have been removed from their lists due to their dual-citizenship status, Shuman is adamant that his party is being targeted by partisan members of the commission.

According to him, LJP is being targeted because it poses the greatest threat to the two major parties – the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition.

“Vishnu Bandhu contested elections for how many years, and how many seats did he win? Ms. Leung is coming in and she’s trying to run a religious party, we’re in a secular state, how many seats do you think she will win? LJP represents a voting block of 52,600 people and right now both parties want us out, and why do you think that is?” he reasoned.
Shuman is adamant that the GECOM does not possess the legal power to remove neither himself nor any other candidate from their lists. He claims that the commissioners made statements that do not reflect any decision made by GECOM.

“GECOM never made any decision to remove Lenox Shuman from any list, all they did was simply asked [sic] for clarification on some personal information and the way the letter was worded was to give cause or reason. There was nothing that says Lenox Shuman you are ousted or all of these colourful words that were used in the media. When I spoke to Madam Chair [person] her position was very clear that that is not a decision that is made by GECOM,” Shuman stated.

Meanwhile, People’s Republic Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Dr. Valerie Leung, has also refuted claims that she breached the Constitution or the electoral laws of Guyana, when she submitted her signed Statutory Declaration to GECOM as a candidate for the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

The PRP presidential candidate said on January 8, 2020 – two days before Nomination Day – she had signed the necessary documents to renounce her Canadian citizenship, which made her no longer a citizen of Canada as of that date.

The presidential candidates of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), United Republican Party (URP) and People’s Republic Party (PRP) respectively had signed sworn declarations while being holders of dual-citizenship. It was reported that three presidential hopefuls, Lenox Shuman, Vishnu Bandhu and Dr. Valerie Leung, were disqualified by GECOM. Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Yolanda Ward, had said in an earlier interview that the names were not “struck off,” but side-lined after they were identified as dual citizens. The commission had taken the decision to grant these potential candidates a grace period to explain the reason for their “false” declarations. “They have until the January 31 to come forward and defend themselves,” Ward had said