The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) yesterday stated in a letter that it was unable to pronounce on Dr Gerald Forde’s status as relates to his position as Representative of the list of The New Movement (TNM) party. The letter which was signed by GECOM Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh, states:
“Dear Mr. Forde,
Re: Your Queries – Asha Kissoon
Reference is made to previous correspondence and our subsequent conversation on the above subject. In this regard please be advised that GECOM is not in a position to pronounce on your status in relation to being the Representative of The New Movement Party.”
Further, in contradiction to Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir’s acknowledgement of receipt, Parliamentary Clerk Sherlock Isaacs yesterday noted that he has not seen the letter that Forde penned to Nadir.
“I haven’t seen the letter as yet… and I maintain that. I haven’t seen the letter,” Isaacs told Stabroek News during a telephone interview.
In that letter, Forde had appealed to the Speaker of the House to issue a recall to Dr Asha Kissoon, who is refusing to relinquish her seat in Parliament. When first contacted by this newspaper on March 15 for a comment on the letter, Nadir had simply stated, “Received,” and when pressed for further comment he had declined. On April 26, when contacted once more for an update, Nadir again declined to provide any insights into parliamentary proceedings, stating “I don’t discuss parliamentary business in the press.”
Responding to GECOM’s most recent correspondence, Forde yesterday expressed disgust at the way in which both the elections commission and the Parliament are handling the matter.
“This is not surprising. It once again confirms to me the deep-seated incompetence … in these organisations. Imagine the only constitutional body vested with the authority to resolve such matters after nearly five months cannot even do the [bare] minimum to look at their records to pronounce on the correct head of the list. That’s a basic task. The Parliament is worse than them. The head of a whole arm of government and his deputy cannot even comment on if they saw a letter which mandates them to fulfill certain constitutional provisions. The letter is in the media signed as received by his office. The clerk of the national assembly haven’t even seen it. This shows the country is running like a cake shop. Why should people put any faith in organisations mired by political manipulation [?]. If they made a mistake and were fooled by Asha they should come out and own up and correct it. To do any different would be to support fraudulent, incompetent and corrupt behaviour. The people will definitely lose every iota of respect for GECOM and Parliament. These are rubber stamp organisations which receive millions every year [and] do not serve the people. The [hypocrisy] of the defenders of democracy and fraud is fraud people is in full display for the country,” he stated.
Kissoon’s term in Parliament, based upon an agreement among three list-joinder parties, came to an end since last year, but she has since refused to resign. As a result Forde, who claims to be the List Representative, raised with both GECOM and the Speaker of the National Assembly the need for Kissoon to be recalled.
Following Forde’s March 5 letter to GECOM to have Kissoon recalled from Parliament, a response was sent to him by Singh, on March 18 informing him of his lack of standing. According to the letter, the Commission was in receipt of correspondence from the party on November 16, 2020, stating that Forde was no longer an executive member and as a result, a new Representative and Deputy Representative of the List was elected.
However, on March 20, Forde received another letter from Singh rescinding the previous letter and indicating that there were some concerns to be deliberated on by the Commission and that she would inform him “expeditiously” about the outcome. While the letter did not state the concerns, sources have told Stabroek News that there is no record of the March 2020 letter informing of Forde no longer being a member of the party.
In April, GECOM wrote to Forde, promising to have a second look at the controversy surrounding the issue of who in the TNM is the bona fide List Representative and therefore has the authority to decide whether Kissoon is to be recalled from Parliament. As the months passed, constant queries from this newspaper have produced the same responses from GECOM – that the matter has been tabled for weekly statutory meetings.
Kissoon has so far refused to answer queries from Stabroek News as to why she is not giving up her seat in accordance with the agreement that had been reached among TNM, A New and United Guyana (ANUG), and the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) for the sharing of the one seat that they hold in Parliament.
LJP has served its term while TNM’s period has expired and it should have made way for ANUG since last year. In anticipation of the transition, ANUG had elected Althia King to take Kissoon’s position as its representative in Parliament.
Nadir, on the other hand, had simply told the media that he was in receipt of Forde’s letter, but has since made no move to respond to it or to work on the matter. Last week, during the 83rd sitting of the National Assembly, Kissoon could be seen acting in Nadir’s place at intervals.
This has sparked outrage from members of the public with letters to the editor expressing their indignation.
Observers say that since Kissoon entered Parliament on the strength of a letter from someone else who claimed to be the list representative, a determination would have to be made first on whether that correspondence is legitimate. The Speaker has apparently made no move in this direction.
