The main parliamentary opposition yesterday maintained its call on Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond to resign her posts as minister and Member of Parliament.
“The honourable thing to do is resign. If this is not done, we will proceed to take legal action,” Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon told a virtual press conference yesterday.
Harmon is adamant that Walrond violated Guyana’s constitution when she apparently took the oath as a Member of Parliament while still holding United States citizenship.
Following a demand by APNU+AFC, Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs on Friday released a copy of the Certificate of Loss of Renunciation, signed by the Consular Section Chief of the US Embassy in Georgetown, which was submitted by Walrond. It bears an approval date of September 8th, while also indicating that Walrond voluntarily performed the act of expatriation to relinquish her US citizenship on September 4th—after she was already sworn as an MP.
There is a constitutional prohibition on dual citizens being eligible for election as members of the National Assembly, although Walrond’s status as a technocrat minister has seen legal arguments suggesting that the provision would not apply in her case. It has also been suggested that if the provision does apply to her, she could simply resign and take the oath of office again.
Before the opening of the 11th Parliament, Isaacs had urged MPs who had issues with dual citizenship to provide evidence of their eligibility to enter the new Parliament. This had been provided by several MPs, including Harmon, who formerly held US Citizenship.
Others who submitted included Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs Gail Teixeira and Deputy Speaker Lenox Shuman. Walrond made no submission until she was directly contacted by the Speaker in October.
According to Harmon, it has now become clear and indisputable that at the time she was sworn in as minister on August 5th and as a Member of Parliament on September 1st, the Minister was a citizen of the United States of America and, therefore, ineligible to be a member of the National Assembly of Guyana – and therefore ineligible to be a minister.
He added that the minister’s claim that she completed the process for renunciation of her US citizenship on August 27th and took the oath to the National Assembly on September 1st has been contradicted by the now public document.
He concluded that these facts mean that there is only one course of action for Walrond: to vacate the ministry and vacate the National Assembly. “Nothing less will be acceptable,” Harmon explained.
On Friday, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo shot down suggestions that Walrond should resign.
“It’s a storm in a teacup [because] she approached the Americans prior to that statement and, secondly, she never signed a declaration form. She didn’t mislead the country like every person did in the past and then they were found to be illegal in the National Assembly when they signed that declaration form. She received the certificate [four] days later but she is not an American citizen,” he told a press conference.
“Right now, she is not an American citizen. She is properly in the National Assembly,” he maintained, while adding that the country should be grateful that she had given up her foreign citizenship to serve.
Asked if his party’s actions are likely to be mitigated by the fact that Walrond does not now hold foreign citizenship, Harmon said no. He added that they would like to see fraud charges instituted against Walrond and the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir.
Nadir had told this newspaper that he was aware that Walrond uttered her renunciation on August 18th and that he had no reason to doubt her.
“…What I knew was that the Honourable Minister had said to me that she submitted her renunciation on 18th of August. I have no reason to not believe the Honourable Minister and I consider the renunciation of the 18th of August as acceptable to me,” he had said.
It is not clear how this statement constitutes a fraudulent action.
