The Constitution together with Guyana’s laws may seem complicated for the average citizen to decipher, but that notwithstanding most of the issues which they concern are easy to apprehend. No one would have any difficulty grasping that Dr Asha Kissoon is a parliamentary imposter who is alienated from any acquaintance with ethics, but they would probably not be surprised either to learn that she is there in defiance of legal requirements.
It was columnist Mr Ralph Ramkarran who last week explained the legal position, followed by opposition Gecom Commissioner Vincent Alexander. But first to recap: Prior to the 2020 elections three small parties – the LJP, ANUG and TNM ‒ agreed to be joined for the purposes of the distribution of seats, but not for voting purposes. Following the 2020 election they won a single seat. Mr Lenox Shuman of the LJP served for the assigned duration under the arrangement and then relinquished the seat, but in an act of generosity which no doubt it now regrets, ANUG allowed TNM to follow him, because in the event of an early election it might not have had the opportunity to serve at all since it was only entitled to three months.
Dr Asha Kissoon was duly appointed and should have vacated the seat since last year, but absolutely refuses to move. It might be noted she has also been appointed Deputy Speaker by the PPP/C. The party she represents fell into disarray after August 2020 with six of its executive members resigning. This included its prime ministerial candidate Dr Gerald Forde who was also its Representative of the List, as well as his Deputy in that capacity, Dr Josh Kanhai.
Evicting the masquerader so comfortably installed in our Parliament is not as complicated as might be thought; it is just that a key institution as well as a major official are not acting in consonance with the requirements of the law. Mr Ramkarran explained that only the Speaker can declare a seat vacant, and gave the example of Mr Robert Corbin who invoked the Constitution to recall Mr James McAllister as a Member of the National Assembly in 2008. He wrote to the Speaker requesting that he act in accordance with Article 156(4), which he duly did by declaring the seat vacant the following day. After a seat has been declared vacant Gecom can then appoint a new member. This is a parallel to the situation we face today with the joinder seat.
In the present case Dr Forde, the TNM representative, wrote Speaker Manzoor Nadir along with Dr Kissoon on March 14 this year indicating a loss of confidence in the latter by the list, and issuing a notice of recall. He cited Article 156(3) (c) of the Constitution as the basis of his action. Not a word has been forthcoming from Mr Nadir since that time, with him simply acknowledging receipt of the letter, while Clerk of the National Assembly said he had not seen it at all. In the meantime, Dr Kissoon could sometimes be seen in the Speaker’s chair acting for Mr Nadir at intervals.
But then as is often the case in Guyana the story acquires some complexity. According to Commissioner Alexander, Dr Forde had been writing Gecom since January enquiring as to how Dr Kissoon could have been sworn into Parliament in the first place, since he was still TNM’s Representative of the List. On March 5 it was reported that Dr Forde had told Gecom that he had learnt someone else had been named the Representative of the List, and it was this which had made possible Dr Kissoon’s entry to Parliament. He was concerned, he said, that Part IX Section 98 of the Representation of the People Act had not been followed, since the Chief Election Officer had not ascertained his unwillingness or inability to execute the function of allocating a candidate to the National Assembly. This applied similarly to Dr Kanhai, his Deputy.
Gecom’s Chair, Justice (rtd) Claudette Singh answered him on March 18, saying he had no standing in the matter, and that the Commission had received correspondence in November 2020 indicating that Dr Forde was no longer an executive member and that a new Representative of the List had been elected.
Subsequent to that Dr Forde was in receipt of another letter from Gecom contradicting the first, and saying they had some concerns to consider and that he would be informed “expeditiously” about the findings. Kissoon had written to Gecom on March 24 this year purporting to have advised the Commission in November 2020 that Dr Forde was no longer the TNM Representative of the List, but there is no such document in Gecom’s possession, which is what, presumably formed the basis of their concerns. That aside, the Commission’s notion of what ‘expeditious’ means is clearly not in accord with everyone else’s.
The point is at the moment rectification of this aberration hinges on who Gecom deems the real TNM Representative of the List. Mr Alexander had clarification to offer on the issues surrounding this matter. He explained that when Dr Kissoon claimed that Dr Forde had been replaced, she relied on a provision in the Representation of the People Act which states that in the case of “unwillingness of inability on the part of the deputy representative, a majority of the persons named in that list may designate in writing any such person able and willing… so to do.” However, her letter carried only eight signatories, when at least 22 people should have signed.
The PPP/C-appointed Commissioners, said Mr Alexander, did not want to address the matter because if they did, it would show that Gecom’s Chief Election Officer did not effect due diligence in the first instance. While he and the Speaker appeared to act in good faith initially, “In hindsight, it may be concluded that that was not the case and that the current situation could have been avoided if the Chief Election Officer had done the necessary document checks at the time. At that time, the documentation to and from the Speaker, and the oral presentation of Kissoon, to the Chief Election Officer, identified Kenrick Morgan as the replacement for Gerald Forde as The New Movement`s representative of the list,” he wrote.
The Speaker does not have to do anything as long as Gecom will not declare Dr Forde the legitimate TNM Representative of the List. So it has to be asked exactly what do the PPP/C-appointed Commissioners think they are doing? There is their party trumpeting about their commitment to democracy, but if it has anything to do with an issue outside their democratic interest, they do not seem to be above some level of manipulation. It does them absolutely no credit.
And where the House is concerned, one cannot help but notice how happy the ruling party is to use Dr Kissoon as Deputy Speaker. It saves them from having to accept an ANUG representative, or worse yet, in their view, someone from the main opposition.
The situation does even less credit to Chair Claudette Singh, who could use her casting vote at the Commission if she saw fit. Her catalogue of misjudgements is mounting up. And if it is indeed the case that the Chief Election Officer made a mistake, then that would be no novelty in the context of Gecom, and he should just swallow hard and accept it.
What is not acceptable is that at this late stage the ruling party should be accepting such a travesty of democracy.
