Gail Teixeira to give up Canadian citizenship – Jagdeo

Gail Teixeira
Gail Teixeira

In light of Thursday’s ruling that it is unconstitutional for persons holding dual citizenship to be Members of Parliament (MPs), PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday announced that the PPP/C’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira has indicated that she will give up her Canadian citizenship.

“I just spoke with Gail Teixeira. I didn’t ask her to renounce her Canadian citizenship. She said to me, voluntarily—in fact I know that she has been thinking about it for a while—that’s what she said to me. I didn’t call her to ask her, ‘Will you give up your Canadian citizenship?” he said at a press conference at Freedom House in Georgetown, where he stressed that the ruling clearly has serious implications for the government and some of its ministers.

Teixeira is currently in Canada on party business.

In addition to Teixeira, Jagdeo had previously identified PPP/C backbencher Adrian Anamayah as another party member holding dual citizenship. He said that as of yesterday he had not gotten any information about any other PPP/C parliamentarian being a dual citizen.

Among the government’s ranks, Minister of State Joseph Harmon holds US citizenship, while Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, Minister of Public Service Rupert Roopnaraine and Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin all hold British citizenship.

According to Article 155 (1) (a) of the constitution, “No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who is, by virtue of his or her own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”

The issue of MPs holding dual citizenship took centre stage once again following the December 21st vote by former government parliamentarian Charrandass Persaud that resulted in the opposition PPP/C’s no-confidence motion against the ruling APNU+AFC being declar-ed passed by a vote of 33 to 32 members.

Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire, in delivering a ruling in one of the cases filed to challenge the passage of the motion, found that Persaud was “not qualified” for election to the National Assembly by virtue of his own acts in acknowledging allegiance and adherence to a foreign power to the sovereign state of Canada, in contravention of Article 155 (1) (a).

Though ruling there was a constitutional breach, she said that Persaud’s vote was valid.

“In the context of this case, a party cannot be complicit in the perpetuation of an illegality and then cry foul when things go wrong…,” Justice George-Wiltshire also said in delivering her oral judgement.

Jagdeo told reporters that the ruling provides guidance for the future as members who are in violation now know that they cannot be there. He said that this situation questions the implication that their presence will have in the National Assembly.

To remain, he said, would mean that they will be “openly flouting our constitution.”

He questioned whether the ruling should trigger an immediate resignation of Harmon and Greenidge and other dual citizen ministers. “They may no longer be ministers by virtue of the ruling,” he suggested.

Asked whether the party is in favour of a constitutional amendment to allow dual citizens to be MPs, Jagdeo reminded that the support of two-thirds of the National Assembly would be needed to make such a change. He added that the government has not signaled that it wants such a change and the PPP’s leadership has not yet discussed it.

Expressing a personal view, he said that the amendment would be warranted because it will cater for those Guyanese who want to return home. “I believe that you can’t say to them come and live here and not aspire for political leadership. Not at the presidency level, that is clearly defined… but for the National Assembly and so that is my thinking at this time,’ Jagdeo said.

He added that because of the ruling, the issue can no longer be ignored because it was there in the constitution and never interpreted “in this defined, specific way by our courts and that has been done now.”

Further, he said that the names of dual citizens will not make their way onto the PPP’s candidates’ lists unless the matter is resolved before through “some other means.”

“Right now I don’t think it will be legal to put… any person holding dual citizenship on the list given the ruling of the Chief Justice,” he added.

In interviews with this newspaper, Harmon and Greenidge had said that they would await the outcome of the court case before take any action. Roopnaraine has expressed his willingness to relinquish his British citizenship if he needs to.

Chairman of the Alliance for Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan has expressed the view that Gaskin would not fall into the category as the constitution stipulates the violation. “The article states by virtue of his or her own act and that means by own personal will. Being born there or having a parent means you would have gotten it as a child and not of your own will and it was why Janet Jagan is excluded also. When you are a baby born or a child, you cannot say [no]. That is why Janet was [excluded], she was born [in the U.S], she could not say no. And when she came here, that did not mean she was excluded from being [President]. So it would not apply to Janet or [Gaskin]…,” he told a press conference last month.