Incoming Member of Parliament Dr Asha Kissoon aims to utilise her seat in the National Assembly to lobby for constitutional reform and championing transparency in public office. “…Transparency, I think, is something really lacking right now… what I can assure the public [is that] anything that is brought to our attention will be shared with the Guyanese people… We will highlight every issue that affects our people,” Kissoon of The New Movement (TNM) party said as she highlighted her objectives during her stint in Parliament.
Kissoon, whose stint is expected to be the shortest of the joinder list’s members, replaces Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) Lenox Shuman, whose term ended on March 31. The joinder list party is made up of A New and United Guyana (ANUG), TNM and LJP. The parties had agreed to have their votes counted collectively to improve their chances at securing seats in the National Assembly. This agreement is derived from Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act. The parties had contested the polls separately.
Kissoon’s tenure comes three years into the life of Guyana’s 10th Parliament and is expected to last an estimated three months. Initially, the parties sought to split their time in Parliament through a 2-1-2 years formula to give all parties adequate time, but the LJP had disagreed. Hence, the TMN will serve the shortest period based on the limited votes it accumulated at the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
At a press conference last Thursday, Kissoon, 33, said her objective is to position the joinder parties as the third force in the political realm.
“I was supposed to go third in Parliament for a specific set of months but due to an agreement with ANUG, the conversation we had was in case of a snap election… We would not have enough time to represent our following because we had the least time in Parliament,” Kissoon said.
She said that if the position of Deputy Speaker was offered to her she would not refuse to serve. The government side of the House had voted Shuman in as the Deputy Speaker, a post which traditionally goes to the main opposition. “I’m not eyeing it per se, it has to be voted on and I have no idea how that will go but I do believe that any capacity that I’m able to represent my constituency, I will be willing to take that,” Kissoon said in response to questions from the media.
She added that she aimed to learn from Shuman’s negatives and use her experiences to improve on them. She described the political scenario here as “polarised” and said her aim was to change that. “I am here with the objective of letting the Guyanese people know that there is a third force. That this third force is representing persons who do not believe in the two-party system. Traditionally, the AFC started with this and then they ended up joining APNU+AFC but we are not joining anybody, we are an independent opposition…. However, we are willing to work with government or opposition for the betterment of the Guyanese people,” Kissoon said.
With regard to constitutional reform, she said she would push for smaller opposition parties, such as hers, to be recognised and have representation at independent bodies such as the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM). The incoming parliamentarian also said that she would push for small independent parties to receive funding from the Treasury, as through such a mechanism they would be able to meet the needs and work closer with their constituencies.
“Something that is very sore for us is that because of the two-party system, the joinder as an independent opposition has not been able to shine legally because we fall under APNU+AFC as opposition. So, I want change, through constitutional reform, to allow us to function as an independent opposition,” she highlighted.
