The article in the Constitution that bars persons with dual citizenship from sitting in Parliament “is doing Guyana (a) disservice and therefore it needs to be amended,” AFC leader and Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman has said.
Following court rulings that he and other dual citizenship Members of Parliament (MPs) were ineligible to be elected to the House, AFC executive and Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin joined three other government ministers in resigning from the National Assembly. Gaskin holds British citizenship.
In congratulating Gaskin for the move, at a press conference yesterday, Trotman said that the AFC, as it has done in the past, will continue to agitate for an amendment to the Constitution to allow persons from the diaspora to not only be in Parliament but also in Government since the country has a serious brain drain problem and needs the diaspora to assist in its development.
“The AFC has always stated publicly that we wish to have diaspora representation not just in the National Assembly but also in Government and we maintain that…We will be pushing for this amendment to be made…,” Trotman said.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon, Minister of Public Service Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, all members of the APNU faction of the APNU+AFC coalition government, along with Gaskin tendered their resignations as Members of Parliament to President David Granger. However, their resignations will not take effect immediately as, according to the President, there are several processes which have to be applied and they continue to serve as ministers.
Their resignations follow recent rulings by both the High Court and the Appeal Court reiterating that the Constitution disqualifies persons under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state from being elected as MPs. Harmon holds US citizenship, while the others have 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.”
While the three other ministers have indicated that they will renounce their foreign citizenship, Gaskin was born in the United Kingdom and has said that he does not wish to renounce the citizenship of his birth.
Trotman yesterday told reporters that shortly after Chief Justice Roxane George’s ruling on dual citizenship, Gaskin indicated his intention to exit the National Assembly but the party asked him to hold on until they could’ve coordinated with their coalition partner.
“Mr Gaskin will continue to be engaged with the party as its longstanding Treasurer and expects that he will continue to serve in government in a different capacity, even if for a transitionary period,” Trotman told reporters at the AFC’s Kitty headquarters.
He revealed that the party is in the process of identifying a suitable replacement for Gaskin and an announcement will be made.
Asked specifically whether Branch Manager for the National Communications Network (NCN) Berbice, Donna Mathoo, is being considered, Trotman said she is, as well as other persons.
“Well, there are I believe, I wouldn’t put a number, but I believe there are a number of persons which are eligible, Miss Mathoo being one of them, and so yes, there is active consideration about appointing her. Other names are also being considered and as I said, we will in due course make that announcement,” Trotman responded.
He said the criteria will be the same for all individuals considered and these include competency, the person’s ability to represent the party and “levels and degrees of loyalty if I am to be upright and upfront about that, we look at their ability to attend sittings of Parliament…”
Trotman also denied that he overruled a consensual decision of other names to replace Gaskin including that of former AFC parliamentarian Trevor Williams in favour of Mathoo.
“Thank God we have recorded every minute of our deliberations and what you told me there I would love to sit you in the room and you can listen to the recordings and see everything, that is news for me,” Trotman told the journalist who posed the question.
He was joined in the denial by Ministers Cathy Hughes and David Patterson who both labeled such reports as “fake news.”
‘No rift’
And the party head, when asked about rifts in the party, denied these and said that there will always be such reports because the party is like a small state surrounded by those who do not want them to exist.
“[Minister] Khemraj [Ramjattan] and I remain very close, we are good friends, good colleagues and good comrades and we has been and we are going to continue,” he said in answer to a question.
However, he said, it is not surprising that in this particular season when elections are in the air and people are looking to get ahead, that such rumours have surfaced.
“Despite what may be said, there is no rift between us and there is no rift within the party. No doubt that on the ground, there is always going to be some competition. Certainly it is not centrally directed or directed by either myself or Mr Ramjattan,” he said.
He said particularly after former AFC Parliamentarian Charrandass Persaud’s departure, some persons felt they should have been the ones to replace him in parliament. Persaud was expelled from the party following the December 21st, 2018 vote in which he sided with the PPP/C in the National Assembly, enabling the passage of a no-confidence motion against the APNU+AFC government.
“We meet as a collective and we make decisions as a collective whether it be leader, or chairman or vice-chairman…no one person makes decisions of that nature, we all come to a consensual position and we go ahead with that,” Trotman said adding that he is proud that the party does not make unilateral decisions.
