Dual citizenship…Greenidge should not act as President; must resign ministerial post

Dual citizenship…Greenidge should not act as President; must resign ministerial post – PPP General Secretary

Mar 29, 2019 News

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, said that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge, is not eligible to act as President of Guyana. Further, Jagdeo believes that the Minister should resign his post as a minister of government, and that he should not sit in the National Assembly either. This all stems from the fact that Greenidge is a dual citizen of The Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK).
There has been much controversy over dual citizens sitting in the National Assembly, and the public has raised this issue time and time again, for years. But the matter piqued public interest after Charandass Persaud, who is a citizen of Guyana and Canada, voted in support of the motion of No Confidence against the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, on December 21, 2018. The government had challenged Persaud’s citizenship with the hope that it would invalidate the motion.
The matter didn’t just call Persaud’s eligibility to serve in the National Assembly into question, but that of other parliamentarians too, aligned with both government and opposition. The Court of Appeal put that matter to rest when all three of its judges agreed that, though Persaud – given his dual citizenship – was not qualified to sit in the National Assembly, there is no evidence to support the contention that he knew he was disqualified. They agreed that Persaud’s dual citizenship would not invalidate his vote on the grounds set out in Article 165 (2) of the Constitution.
According to that Article, “The Assembly may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership … (even) after any dissolution of Parliament and the presence or participation of any person not entitled to be present or to participate in the proceedings of the Assembly, shall not invalidate those proceedings.”
So, even though the ruling didn’t invalidate his vote, it called into question whether current MPs who are dual citizenships should sit in the National Assembly.
On the side of the Opposition, Jagdeo said that there are three parliamentarians who have dual citizenship. There are two, of the three members of Parliament, who will relinquish their dual citizenship: Gail Teixeira and Odinga Lumumba. However, the third, Adrian Anamayah, has not indicated yet whether he would relinquish his dual citizenship. Jagdeo said that, until Teixeira and Lumumba relinquish their dual citizenship, they will not attend Parliament.
Further, on the government’s side, the PPP General Secretary has indicated that he expects certain actions to be taken by those dual citizens.
“First of all, Greenidge himself, should not really be the acting President of Guyana, nor should he hold ministerial portfolio because, in calling to respect the decision of the courts, both the High Court and the Court of Appeal,” Jagdeo said.
He noted that, “If you argue as a government that respects the court ruling, then you should not have dual citizens attend the Parliament, and they should immediately resign as ministers of government,” since, he said, most of the government-aligned dual citizens hold ministerial posts.
“So, you cannot be convenient in arguing for upholding the ruling of the court, and then deal with this matter in such a duplicitous [way],” Jagdeo stated.
Amna Ally, Minister of Social Protection, had said that all government-aligned MPs will be heading back to Parliament, even those who are dual citizens. She had said, “I don’t know that there is a court action filed against anyone from attending … so all parliamentarians will be attending Parliament.”
Given that the Government had been arguing against dual citizens sitting in the National Assembly for the past three months, Jagdeo said that Ally’s statement was indicative of “indecency and duplicity” on the government’s behalf.