At the request of Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond has submitted all documentation related to the renunciation of her US Citizenship.
“I reached out to the Minister and she made a submission to me which is on my desk,” Isaacs told Stabroek News yesterday while stating that he had not yet read the documents presented by Walrond.
Questions about the Minister’s eligibility to sit in the National Assembly were first raised on Friday when opposition members claimed that she had not renounced her American citizenship before becoming a Member of Parliament (MP).
The APNU+AFC in a statement on Saturday went so far as to demand that she either produce a certificate dated before her swearing in or resign her position.
On that same day, Walrond said that two weeks after she was invited to join the cabinet she wrote to the US Consular office renouncing her US citizenship with immediate effect.
She said she was then informed of the administrative procedure she was required to comply with in order to obtain a Certificate of Loss of Nationality of the US.
“I complied with that process by August 27. I have since received the Certificate of Loss of Nationality,” Walrond said via a public statement on Saturday.
She did not provide the date of this certificate. If the date was after her swearing in as a parliamentarian it would mean that she was illegally sworn.
Walrond took pains to detail the steps she took from the time she was approached by President Irfaan Ali to take up the ministerial position up to the point that she was sworn in.
She explained that on August 5th, she was invited by Ali to join his Cabinet. Walrond said she accepted the offer, which she considered as an opportunity to serve the country.
She did not indicate whether she had informed the president of her status as a dual citizen but Ali has publicly stated that she did.
“…I am very comfortable that Minister Oneidge did what she had to do. Minister Oneidge is an honourable woman and before she was sworn in she came and advised the president of her dual citizenship…,” Ali said, while speaking on the sidelines of the swearing in of Regional Democratic Council Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen on Monday.
Since Article 155 of the Constitution prohibits dual citizens from becoming MPs it has been argued that the President should have withdrawn the offer on learning of her status. He however did not and has said that his minister has nothing to hide as she is not in a category of persons who went to the elections on a slate and did not renounce their citizenship.
Walrond has been sworn in as a technocrat Minister under the provisions of Article 123 of the Constitution which state that she must comply with the requirement under Article 155.
This constitutional injunction against MPs holding dual citizenship was upheld in the case brought last year against Charrandass Persaud and which ended up at the Caribbean Court of Justice. Since then, political parties and Parliament Office have reiterated that dual citizens cannot sit in Parliament.
Isaacs had previously written to all members of the 12th Parliament asking that they submit documented proof that they were eligible to sit in the House before there swearing in. This information had been provided by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Gail Teixeira, Leader of the Opposition Joseph Harmon and Deputy Speaker Lenox Shuman.
