After announcing that President David Granger had accepted the resignations of four APNU+AFC coalition parliamentarians with dual citizenship yesterday, the government said their ministerial portfolios would be taken up by the members of Cabinet who previously acted in their stead, while signalling that they would have new roles in the administration.
The four are First Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, Minister of State Joseph Harmon, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin and Minister of Public Service Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, whose resignations follow recent rulings by both the High Court and the Appeal Court reiterating that the constitution disqualifies persons under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state from being elected as Members of Parliament (MPs). Harmon holds US citizenship, while the others have British citizenship.
“These members will not be returning to Parliament therefore, when it reconvenes on April 11, 2019,” the Ministry of the Presidency said yesterday morning in a brief statement, in which it also reiterated its commitment to upholding the constitution and the ruling of the Court of Appeal on the motion of no-confidence that was brought against it.
The statement, which did not name the four MPs, was issued prior to President Granger leaving for Cuba yesterday morning.
A subsequent Government of Guyana (GoG) statement named them and explained that “as is the usual practice” their portfolios would for the ensuing period be held by sitting members of Cabinet who previously acted for the ministers while they were on leave or out of the jurisdiction.
It also conceded that the constitution strictly bars a person who holds dual citizenship from being an MP but noted that they are not precluded from remaining in government service. “This is a matter to be addressed by the President who will finalize ways in which the four resigned MPs will serve in government,” it said. “Cabinet thanks the four resigned MPs for their yeoman and exemplary service to the people of Guyana and looks forward to their future contributions in their new roles,” it added.
Government will now turn to the APNU+AFC list of candidates for replacements MPs.
The issue of MPs with dual citizenship came in for scrutiny once again following the vote by former government parliamentarian Charrandass Persaud, then an APNU+AFC MP, which resulted in the opposition PPP/C’s no-confidence motion against government being declared passed on December 21st by 33 to 32 votes.
Following the contentions over the vote, Compton Reid, a private citizen, filed a court action that challenged the validity of Persaud’s election as an MP due to his dual citizenship, and the legality of his vote on the motion. This has raised questions about parliamentarians on both sides of the House as 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.”
Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire subsequently found that while Persaud was a parliamentarian in violation of the Constitution due to his dual citizenship, his vote on the motion was valid.
The GoG statement was issued after Cabinet met yesterday. It said Cabinet was “satisfied” that the resignation of the four ministers as government MPs fully accorded with the decision of the courts.
The statement explained that following rulings by the High Court and the Guyana Court of Appeal, Granger had sought Cabinet’s advice on how to definitively address the status of MPs who hold dual citizenship. Noting that the courts have held that it is unconstitutional for persons swearing allegiance to a foreign state or power to be eligible for election to the National Assembly, it said the four MPs submitted their resignations from the House to the President. “On reviewing this development, Cabinet described the action by the ministers as politically correct and as a demonstration of their respect for the rule of law,” it added.
The administration had faced criticism over its failure to remove its MPs with dual citizenship in light of rulings on the issue by both the High Court and the Court of Appeal that it did not contest. As a result, opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo accused it of selectively upholding the decisions of the courts.
(Jagdeo has said that two of three PPP/C MPs with dual citizenship, Gail Teixeira and Odinga Lumumba, would relinquish their Canadian and American citizenship, respectively. At the time he last addressed he said the issue was still to be settled with the third PPP/C MP, Adrian Anamayah.)
In a statement issued yesterday, the PPP took credit for the resignation of the government MPs, saying that the government “changed direction” after the party pointed out its “duplicity” in observing the decisions of the court.
However, it added that it believes that the government’s change in position is a ploy developed with the distant hope that it will strengthen its case in the appeals now before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on the no-confidence motion.
In the meantime, it expressed its hope that that “sinecure positions” would not be created for the resigned MPs.
‘No desire’
Stabroek News reached out to the four former ministers for comment.
Gaskin explained that his decision was founded on the fact that the courts’ “interpretation” and “case studies” were very clear about the criteria for parliamentarians.
Sources close to Gaskin had told this newspaper that since the Chief Justice ruled on the issue at the end of January he was ready to resign. “If you know him, you would know that he is very principled. He doesn’t care about what is politically right and said from the onset that if the court finds that is the case then he would resign,” an AFC executive said.
The executive pointed out that the party had asked about dual citizenship before submitting names for ministerial portfolios and Parliament but that Gaskin was given the legal go ahead because he was British from birth.
Asked why he did not give up his foreign citizenship, Gaskin said, “You are disqualified if at the time of nomination [in this case March of 2015] you held dual citizenship. Therefore, giving up one’s citizenship does not change the fact that you are sitting in the National Assembly unlawfully.”
He added, “Also, I do not wish to renounce the citizenship of my birth in the same way that I would not wish to ever renounce my Guyanese citizenship. I can’t change who I am and I have no desire to do so.”
Gaskin said that while he is no longer Minister of Business, there is “lots of handing over to do” and he will be doing so in the meantime.
For Roopnaraine, giving up his British citizenship is an easy decision but it does not mean, as explained by Gaskin, that he will become qualified to sit in the National Assembly.
He explained that he has held British citizenship since the 1950s and kept it as it allowed him easier access to his grandchildren, who were also born in the United Kingdom and resided there. He noted that this is no longer the case and that he has not travelled to the United Kingdom for many years.
Roopnaraine said that he has had discussions with President Granger on his resignation and the president asked him if he would still be willing to serve the country in a non-ministerial capacity. He said that he answered in the affirmative and some options were given. He is to today meet with Harmon to finalize plans and the terms of his acceptance.
Roopnaraine said that he did not wish to go into the details of those options with the press until they are finalized and added that he will make a statement today on the way forward for him.
Efforts to contact Harmon and Greenidge were futile as Harmon did not return calls and Greenidge’s mobile phones were turned off.
Up to last Friday, Harmon had told a post-Cabinet press briefing that when the National Assembly reconvenes on April 11 all government MPs would be present as Cabinet had not taken a decision on those members with dual citizenship. He had also defended his continued membership in the House, saying that he was representing constituents.
It would appear that neither Harmon nor Greenidge is prepared to renounce their foreign citizenship.
Meanwhile, Professor Harold Lutchman, the representative of the APNU+AFC list of candidates, yesterday echoed sentiments that he had previously shared on dual citizenship and replacing MPs.
In 2015, he 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.
Yesterday, he maintained his stance, saying his position was only for “documentation purposes” when someone has to be replaced. “They don’t have to inform me. It is just a matter of courtesy. The president heads the list on the government side and it is the president that can appoint and dismiss ministers at any time. He doesn’t have to tell me…he is in charge of certain functions, so the portfolios in total belong to him. A person may not be a minister but that doesn’t mean they can’t be a technical officer…and it is the president that will determine that. They decide and will notify me if they want somebody to be substituted,” he added.
