The new MPs should hold only Guyanese citizenship

Dear Editor,

In October there was a letter in the newspapers by Mr. Christopher Ram asking the Chief Election Officer to ensure that persons satisfy the eligibility criteria for election to the Guyana Parliament.

The PPP and AFC have published the names of those going to parliament. The APNU is still to. It is being whispered Minister Leslie Ramsammy is a U.S. citizen and the APNU prime ministerial candidate Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine is a British citizen. These men need to publicly say if this circulated information is true or false and provide the proof. If it is true then why have they allowed themselves to be on the list to the National Assembly fully aware they are violating Article 155 (1) of the

Constitution, which says, “No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who is, by virtue of his own act, under any allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”

They also should not be allowed to now renounce their foreign citizenship if they did not do so before the list was submitted to GECOM because it will be seen as self serving and thinking they could get away with breaking the law. Both Messrs. Donald Ramotar and David Granger promised a new politics. It is left to be seen if they will do so by starting here to make sure the persons going to parliament hold only Guyanese citizenship. If they fail to, the Speaker and people should see to it.

Finally, I support Mr. Ram’s summation, “That those who seek to make laws for the citizens of any country must be willing to submit themselves to those very laws at all times is almost superfluous to state.  The permissiveness that characterized previous parliaments has led us into the present state of non-governance and lawlessness. We must not allow the same mistakes again. The time to start holding our next batch of parliamentary representatives to account begins now.”

Yours faithfully,
Mr. Humphrey Charles