Former Minister of Education Dr Nicolette Henry yesterday resigned from the National Assembly, paving the way for recently-elected People’s National Congress Reform Leader, Aubrey Norton to become an APNU+AFC Member of Parliament (MP).
However, Norton’s fate continues to rest in the hands of former President and Representative of the APNU+AFC List, David Granger, whose responsibility by law is to inform GECOM and by extension the public of her replacement. There was no explanation yesterday of what triggered Henry’s resignation and whether an agreement had been reached to anoint Norton as Opposition Leader and break the current stalemate that has kept him out of Parliament.
While Henry announced in the House that she had resigned, she had not up to press time submitted her resignation to the Speaker of the National Assembly through Clerk of the House Sherlock Isaacs, this newspaper understands.
Sources have told the Stabroek News that Henry “did the thing wrong” and instead sent her resignation to the Representative of the List.
She will still have to officially inform the House of her resignation so as to start the process for the appointment of a new parliamentarian.
“This is my final budget presentation in this Honourable House,” an emotional Henry said, her voice cracking at intervals as she fought to hold back tears yesterday.
She spoke on the education sector, and when she concluded, she thanked supporters for allowing her the honour of serving in the Parliament, as she singled out Granger and former Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon.
“As I conclude my presentation, Mr Speaker, allow me to place on record a few thank yous, in light that this is my final budget presentation in this honourable House. Of course, I begin by thanking none other than his Excellency former President Granger who reposed in me the confidence to serve in this honourable House. I am forever grateful to the people of this country who afforded me the opportunity to serve them with professionalism, dignity and accountability,” she said.
“I thank the coalition partners, Khemraj, for their unwavering support and guidance,” she added as she turned to her right and looked across at her colleague and Leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan.
Henry continued, “I thank the former Opposition Leader, my friend and colleague, the Honourable Joseph Harmon for his unwavering support. I thank each and every honourable member in this House for the commitment and dedication they bring each and every day, sometimes under the most difficult of circumstances. I thank my family who has always had my back and have supported every decision I made. Today, it is with those words I part company and conclude my contribution to Budget 2022.”
Both government and her colleague opposition members applauded, some tapping on the desks in front of them.
Speaker Nadir expressed thanks to Henry saying that it was both on his own behalf and both sides of the divide. “We thank you for the service you have provided to this parliament and this nation,” he said.
When a Member of Parliament resigns there then exists a vacancy in the House that the party in question would have to fill.
It is the duty of the Clerk of the National Assembly to inform the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the Chief Election Officer (CEO) of the name of the member who resign-ed and which party they represented.
It is on that basis the CEO would then write to the Representative of the List of that party, requesting that they extract a name from the list they would have submitted before the elections.
The name of that person is then extracted and the Representative of the List then writes to GECOM informing them of the proposed replacement so that a certificate of election could be issued.
“The certificate of election says this person was elected for whichever party and it is on that basis the person could then be made a member of the National Assembly,” a GECOM official explained.
Up to last evening GECOM had not yet received the letter from the Clerk of the National Assembly, this newspaper was told.
With the debate on the 2022 budget wrapping up tomorrow, the PNCR had hoped that from its discussion with members of the coalition, someone would step down to allow for Norton to be in parliament by then. However, it seems unlikely as Chief Whip Christopher Jones had informed that Harmon will give the key Leader of the Opposition rebuttal tomorrow.
In what had been seen as a surprise move, when the coalition came into government in 2015, Granger appointed Henry who was seen as new to the political sphere, to serve as a junior Minister of Education under Dr Rupert Roopnaraine.
Two years later, Granger reassigned Roopnaraine from Minister of Education to the Ministry of the Presidency and announced that Henry would hold the substantive portfolio.
