Minister of State Joseph Harmon yesterday an-nounced that when the National Assembly reconvenes on April 11th all government Members of Parliament (MPs) will be present as Cabinet has not taken a decision on those members with dual citizenship.
“…The attorneys representing the state will advise the government with respect to the situation with members of the government that are dual citizens. So, in that regard I would say that this matter is still engaging the attention and Cabinet has not made a ruling on it. In that regard, it is contemplated that on the 11th of April, 2019, when the National Assembly sits, that all of the members on the government side will be there,” Harmon told a post-Cabinet press briefing, where he also challenged assertions that he is illegally occupying a seat in the National Assembly.
Harmon’s comments came in wake of criticism by opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who has accused the government of ignoring court rulings on MPs with dual citizenship.
According to Article 155 (1) (a) of the Constitution, “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.”
With both the High Court and the Court of Appeal recognising that in keeping with the Constitution, dual citizens are ineligible for election to the National Assembly, observers have questioned whether Harmon, who is a United States citizen, and the three other government MPs who hold dual citizenship will attend Parliament.
Jagdeo on Thursday said that his party will be respecting the courts’ rulings in this regard and that MPs Odinga Lumumba and Gail Teixeira, who are US and Canadian citizens, respectively, have indicated that they will relinquish their foreign citizenship. The way forward was yet to be discussed with a third PPP/C MP, Adrian Anamayah. It would appear that the PPP/C MPs have two options: relinquish their foreign citizenship or resign from the National Assembly.
The other MPs with dual citizenship on the government side of the House are Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, Minister of Public Service Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin, who all hold British citizenship.
Greenidge has already indicated that he is still being advised by his lawyers and will decide whether he will attend parliament either on the date or the day before. Roopnaraine has said that he will give up his foreign citizenship if necessary.
Stabroek News has been unable to make contact with Gaskin to ascertain his position on the matter. The Alliance for Change (AFC), to which he belongs, has argued that the law may not apply to him as he was born in the UK and did not voluntarily swear allegiance to a foreign state.
Harmon yesterday acknowledged that the issue is a “hot” topic and he said it is important that it is clarified. Asked to respond to Jagdeo’s accusation of government being selective with respect to its treatment of the rulings on dual citizen MPs as against the other rulings made by the courts, he said he disagreed. “I see nothing duplicitous about it. The fact of the matter is that the Court of Appeal has dealt with the matter and the matter is now under appeal at the other level. As far as we are concerned the Court of Appeal has made a determination in all of the matters before it and so we will abide by what the Court of Appeal has said. If at the level of the Carib-bean Court of Justice [CCJ] these matters are dealt with and they are definitively pronounced upon, then certainly we will abide by what the court says,” he said.
“At the appropriate time, I can say to you that decisions of members of the government, including me… will be made in the public interest. Whatever is in the public interest, be assured that we will make those decisions at the appropriate time,” he later said.
Jagdeo on Thursday said, “You cannot be convenient in the arguing or upholding of the court and then deal with this matter in such a duplicitous manner… almost without decency, absolutely no decency.” He stressed that in keeping with government’s utterances that it respects the ruling of the court, all ministers who have dual citizenship status should immediately resign from their posts since they would be appointed by virtue of their election to the National Assembly.
It was the vote of former government MP Charrandass Persaud, a Canadian citizen, which led to the opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against government being declared passed on the night of December 21st last. A case had been filed in the High Court challenging the validity of his vote given his dual citizenship status.
‘Not illegal’
Harmon, who was a prominent attorney prior to being elected into office, maintained that awareness of the dual citizenship proviso in the Constitution came after cases were filed in the court challenging the passage of the December 21st no-confidence vote.
“I am not illegal…,” he said when asked when he realised he was sitting illegally in the National Assembly by virtue of being a dual citizen.
“I’m representing constituents. I do not sit there on my own. Members who are in the National Assembly sit there as representatives,” he added.
Harmon went on to explain that one is first extracted from a list, which is made up of persons who would have actually been elected within their parties. “When you sit there… you represent close to 5,500 persons. So you cannot on your own get up one day and say ‘I’m not sitting here anymore,’” he further claimed.
According to Harmon, these are among the things that have to be considered. “I am a representative of a list and a list that represents people, so I cannot tell you…. ‘I am illegal and I am going to do this.’ These are matters which have to be discussed at the level of the government, the level of the parties and then those decisions are made,” he said.
Asked if he was aware of the constitutional provision which speaks about dual citizenship, he said, “It came to our attention, most of our attention, when the matters were filed in the court.”
The questions of dual citizens sitting in Parliament had been raised during the tenure of the previous PPP/C administration.
In 2015, the representative of the APNU+AFC list of candidates, Professor Harold Lutchman, when approached about those with dual citizens, was adamant that he had no authority to take any action in such instances. “That is for the authorities, including the president, to take action,” Lutchman had told this newspaper when contacted then. “I don’t have that sort of constitutional authority,” he added, while noting that he did not know which of the incoming MPs on the coalition’s list had dual citizenship.
He had said, too, that he had made no inquiry into such a matter before pointing out that a precedent existed with several MPs in the previous Parliament having dual citizenship.
Noting that the issues would best be addressed by the party leader, the law professor said, “All that I did was to sign off on the list agreed to by both parties.” He advised persons with objections to take them to court.
Since nomination day in 2015 and up to the time of voting on the no-confidence motion, Persaud held a passport and possessed the rights and obligations as a citizen of Canada as did the seven other MPs.
As a result, questions have been raised as to why steps were not taken before his vote to ensure that this constitutional provision was not violated.
Observers have also questioned why government and the opposition would include such persons on their list of candidates, knowing very well that it was unlawful to do so.
When a person is to be a candidate, he has to sign a statutory declaration, as provided for by the Representation of the People Act. The declaration form, which must be submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), makes no direct reference to dual citizenship. In part, candidates are asked to declare that they are “aware of the provisions of articles 53 and 155 of the constitution with respect to the qualifications and disqualifications for election as a Member of the National Assembly.”
GECOM has distanced itself from the responsibility of determining which candidate has dual citizenship. In fact, an official had explained that that responsibility lies with the candidate as it is him or her who has to make the declaration.
