A New and United Guyana (ANUG) today said that Dr Asha Kissoon of The New Movement is refusing to relinquish her seat in Parliament to make way for the ANUG representative as agreed by the three list joinder parties that won a seat at the 2020 general elections.
Am abridged version of the ANUG press release follows:
On 2nd March, 2020, A New and United Guyana (ANUG), The Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) and The New Movement (TNM) executed a Memorandum of Understanding, agreeing to merge the votes earned by them if sufficient to take a seat in Parliament, and to share occupation of that seat in Parliament in proportion to the votes earned by each.
The result of the election was that LJP and ANUG, each with more than 2200 votes, would occupy the single seat won by the merger for the majority of the time, while TNM, with 244 votes, was entitled to occupy the seat for 91 days.
Because the Constitution of Guyana provides for the removal of a Member of Parliament only by his resignation or by his removal by the Representative of his party’s List, it was clearly understood that the Memorandum of Understanding was based on trust and integrity, since it would not be enforced in Court. The three parties would have to trust each other.
After the 2020 Election, Mr. Lennox Shuman took occupation of the single merger seat on behalf of LJP, and occupied that seat for two and one-half years, before honouring his commitment and resigning. Because TNM was allocated only a few months by virtue of the Memorandum of Understanding, and was at risk of being kept out of
Parliament altogether, in the event that an early election was called in 2025, ANUG offered to permit TNM to take the seat for their allotted period immediately when Mr. Shuman demitted.
Dr. Asha Kissoon duly assumed the seat in Parliament on behalf of TNM. If she intended to honour the commitment made by her in the Memorandum of Understanding, Dr. Kissoon should have resigned that seat in November, 2023.
However, Dr. Asha Kissoon has now held that seat for more than twice her permitted allocation under the arrangement of trust set out in the Memorandum of Understanding.
She has so far refused to relinquish her seat…
Her single verbal and informal promise to vacate office on 29th February, 2024, three months late, has now apparently also been breached by Dr. Kissoon.
A New and United Guyana calls on Dr. Asha Kissoon to do the right thing.
It is regrettable that such circumstances have arisen, further undermining the confidence of the Guyanese people in third parties. ANUG reaffirms its commitment to integrity and transparency.