–AG argues in submission to High Court

THE Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C, has posited and submitted to the court that the appointment of Sarah Brown and Vikash Ramkissoon as Parliamentary Secretaries are not unconstitutional, and that the application to declare them as such is misconceived in law.

This is in response to a Fixed Date Application filed in the High Court by A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition member, Christopher Jones, challenging the lawfulness of the appointment of Brown and Ramkissoon.

Brown, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, and Ramkissoon, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, were appointed Members of the National Assembly of the Twelfth Parliament of Guyana on September 15, 2020.

Jones is contending that Brown and Ramkissoon cannot be appointed as non-elected Members of Parliament since they were named on the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C)’s List of Candidates for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.

He contends that this makes them elected members of the National Assembly and as such they are not valid and legal members, and are not validly appointed Parliamentary Secretaries. To back up his grounds for the application, Jones cited Article 103 (3) of the Constitution which states: “Not more than four Ministers and two Parliamentary Secretaries shall be appointed by the President from among persons who are qualified to be elected as member of the National Assembly.”

He is also relying on Article 186 (1) which states: “Parliamentary Secretaries may be appointed from among persons who are elected members of the National Assembly or are qualified to be elected as such members.”

But the Attorney-General, in his submission, argued that based on the language used by the framers of Article 186 (1) and 186 (3) of the Constitution, it is pellucid that Parliamentary Secretaries can come from among persons who are elected; that is extracted from the list of candidates put up by a political party for elections, as well as, persons who are qualified to have been so elected.

“The temptation to argue that the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries is governed by Article 103 (3) of the Constitution of Guyana must be vigorously resisted,” Nandlall further submitted to the court.
Pursuant to Article 113 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana, the President possesses the power to appoint Parliamentary Secretaries “to assist him or his ministers in the discharge of their functions.”

Further, Article 113 (2) notes: “Qualifications for appointment to the office of Parliamentary Secretary and other matters connected therewith are regulated by Article 186.”

Nandlall explained that even though Article 103 (3) speaks of the President’s appointment of four Ministers of Government and two Parliamentary Secretaries, Article 103 (3) is a general article speaking to the appointment of ministers as the marginal note explains. He noted too that in the event there is an inconsistency between Article 103 (3) on one hand and Article 113 and 186 on the other, this can be quickly resolved through the application of the principle of construction.

“In this regard, it is clear that Article 113 and 186 would be regarded as specific in relation to Parliamentary Secretaries over and above 103 (3) which may be regarded as ‘general’ in relation to Parliamentary Secretaries and specific in relation to Ministers,” Nandlall submitted.
In elaborating further on his point, the Attorney-General noted that reliance may also be placed on the marginal notes of these articles, as Section 57 (3) of the Interpretation Act declares marginal notes are part of the written law.

“For both Article 113 and 186, the marginal note is ‘Parliamentary Secretary;’ whereas the marginal notes of Article 103 is ‘Minister.’ This supports our contention that Articles 113 and 186 should govern the appointment and qualifications of Parliamentary Secretaries and likewise 103 (3) ministers,” he submitted.

Nandlall also stated that there is no question as to whether Brown and Ramkissoon became members of the National Assembly by virtue of their appointment as Parliamentary Secretaries, as it is not the fact of their appointment that has made them members, but rather they were already elected members by being on the list of candidates.

He noted that in the present circumstances, there is no issue pertaining to the holding of seats in the National Assembly since Parliamentary Secretaries are non-voting members and do not hold seats, as their role is defined in Article 113.

Jones is seeking an order from the court directing the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, to prevent Browne and Ramkissoon from sitting in or participating in the business of the National Assembly.

Jones is being represented by attorneys-at-law Roysdale Forde, S.C, Mayo Robertson, Raphael Trotman, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, Amanza Walton-Desir, Olayne Joseph and Darren Wade