Saying that she was a squatter in Parliament, APNU+AFC MPs yesterday walked out in protest when Dr Asha Kissoon rose to make her presentation on the 2025 budget.
As she began her presentation, four opposition members — Ganesh Mahipaul, Annette Ferguson, Nima Flue Bess and Cathy Hughes — walked out of the chamber. Before leaving, MP Annette Ferguson made a pointed gesture, holding up a sign that read, “Hon. Asha Kissoon your time is up!! Why are you SQUATTING?”
In a quick retort, Kissoon, who also serves as Deputy Speaker, dismissed the move, calling it the “pot calling the kettle black.” She referred to the opposition’s own history of misdeeds, stating that they had been “squatting for five months.”
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Kissoon represents The New Movement (TNM) in parliament as part of a list joinder with two other parties. The three parties are sharing one seat and the Liberty and Justice Party had its turn followed by TNM which was allotted three months based on the number of votes it garnered at the 2020 general elections. TNM was last year expected to vacate the seat to pave the way for A New and United Guyana (ANUG) to occupy the seat for the remainder of the term. Kissoon has steadfastly refused to resign. Neither Parliament nor the Guyana Elections Commission has taken any step to have her recalled. The key stumbling block appears to be who in her party was the authorised Leader of the List. That is the person with the authority to apply for her recall from Parliament.
The walkout followed weeks of mounting frustration within the opposition over Kissoon’s breach of the seat-sharing arrangement.
Jermaine Figueira, an APNU+AFC MP, yesterday offered a critique of Kissoon’s actions to Stabroek News. “The opposition sees Ms. Kissoon as one who has betrayed the trust of her partners in the sharing of the parliamentary seat,” Figueira said. “Her time is up, and she blatantly refused to vacate the shared seats. She remains an ‘illegal squatter’ in the people’s parliament. She is a very nice person, but her actions, in my respectful view, are unprincipled.”
Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir has said that the issue of the appointment and validity of the members of the House did not fall under his jurisdiction. He explained that any disputes related to parliamentary seating arrangements were not a matter for his office to address.
Speaking with Stabroek News last year Dr. Kissoon said, “My only comment is that the last official statement from GECOM was that I was duly appointed. There are a lot of personal opinions on the matter, but my appointment was legal and constitutional.” She ignored the fact that there was an agreement with the two other parties.
At a Guyana Elections Commission press conference held on November 22, 2024, Deputy Chief Election Officer Aneal Giddings said that the matter was still under active discussion at the Commis-sion. “This matter is on the agenda of the Commission. We have received legal opinions, but any decision on the way forward will require further deliberation by the full Commission,” Giddings said.