State Minister Joseph Harmon yesterday said the parties in the coalition government will await the ruling of the court before addressing the issue of Members of Parliament (MPs) having dual citizenship.
“I would reserve any comments on this matter until the court has made its ruling, at which time I believe the party of which I am a member [the PNCR], the partnership of which I am a member [APNU] and the coalition of which I am a member [APNU+AFC] will make definitive statements on the matter,” Harmon said during a post-Cabinet press briefing at the Ministry of the Presidency.
Harmon was initially asked about his views on the grounds upon which private citizen Compton Reid has challenged former government MP Charrandass Persaud’s eligibility to be elected to the National Assembly and thereby the validity of his vote on the no-confidence motion against the government.
Reid is contending that Persaud, by virtue of his Canadian citizenship, was not eligible to be an MP and therefore his vote, which led to the motion being declared carried, was not valid.
Questions have been raised about the status of parliamentarians from both sides of the House as Article 155 (1) (a) of the Constitution provides, “No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”
Harmon, who himself holds US citizenship, was also asked whether he would relinquish it so that he can be properly listed as a candidate for the next general elections.
In response, Harmon stressed that the matter is engaging the attention of the High Court and as a result it would be unwise for him to comment.
“…It is usually not prudent to be making pronouncements on matters which are before the court and which can in fact have the tendency of seeking to try to influence the direction in which the court goes,” he said, while stressing that the matter is very active.
Last weekend, Harmon, who is also the General Secretary of APNU, the larger partner in the coalition, admitted to being a dual citizen, holding both American and Guyanese citizenship, but he would not say if he travels on a US passport or if he would give up that citizenship if called upon. Harmon is also an executive member of the PNCR, which is the main constituent of APNU.
Pressed to speak on relinquishing his US citizenship, Harmon declined to comment. He also declined to identify other parliamentarians who have dual citizenship. “I wouldn’t be able to make a comment on that since I have not done a census myself and again these are matters, as I said, [that] are in the court and whether it is one, two, three, five, ten, a hundred, I don’t want to comment on it once it is in the court. When the court makes its determination, then everything will probably come out in the wash,” he added.
Aside from Harmon, Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge, Public Service Minister Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, and Business Minister Dominic Gaskin on the government side and Chief Whip Gail Teixeira and Adrian Anamayah on the opposition side also hold such a status.
The AFC, the smaller party in the governing coalition, has since expressed the belief that Gaskin, one of the party’s executive members, is not disqualified by the constitutional provision.
Chairman of the party Khemraj Ramjattan told a press conference on Wednesday that Gaskin had indicated that he had been born in the United Kingdom. Ramjattan expressed the view that Gaskin would not fall into the category as the constitution stipulates the violation.
“The article states by own virtue of his or her own act and that means by own personal will. Being born there or having a parent means you would have gotten it as a child and not of your own will and it was why Janet Jagan is excluded also. When you are a baby born or a child you cannot say [no]. That is why Janet was [excluded], she was born [in the U.S], she could not say no. And when she came here, that did not mean she was excluded from being [President]. So it would not apply to Janet or [Gaskin]…,” he said.
Gaskin, he said, was the only one who spoke up when members were asked if they had dual citizenship prior to the submission of names for its 12 MPs in 2015. Persaud was selected as an MP by the AFC.
Another parliamentarian identified as a dual citizen is opposition member Odinga Lumumba, who has said that he has to make a check. He noted though that in the event that he is a dual citizen, how he handles that situation will be guided by the outcome of the court case.
