Only Gail Teixeira submitted proof of relinquished foreign citizenship – Clerk

…Harmon’s, Shuman’s outstanding

Despite instructions from the Clerk of the National Assembly to submit proof of renunciation, only Government Member of Parliament (MP) Gail Teixeira has so far submitted proof that she relinquished her foreign citizenship.
This is according to Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, who on Tuesday said he was not in receipt of evidence from the other parliamentarians who previously held dual citizenship.

Tuesday was the first sitting of the 12th Parliament and Isaacs informed this publication at the parliamentary suspension that Minister of Governance, Gail Teixeira, was the only MP who submitted proof of renunciation.
When subsequent checks were made with the Clerk, he confirmed that up to 16:00h on Tuesday, Texieira’s proof was still the only one in his possession. Nevertheless, he was optimistic that the proof from others may still be in transit.
“(I have the) certificate of renunciation of Canadian citizenship (from) Gail Teixeira. That’s the only one I have in the file. I took the file to the convention centre. That’s the only one. If (anyone else) submitted, it is not with me.”

However, Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon had been adamant during an engagement with the media on Tuesday midday that he submitted his proof. Harmon told the media during the parliamentary recess that he sent his certificate of renunciation to the Clerk.
“The Clerk of the National Assembly, yesterday, wrote to all parliamentarians on this issue of dual citizenship. This morning, I wrote to the Clerk and submitted to him the original sealed copy of my revocation certificate, as well as a copy and asked that he return my sealed certificate,” Harmon revealed.
“I am hopeful that all those other persons who are so affected and I can recall two who are so affected, including the Government Chief Whip and the (Deputy Speaker). I trust that by the end of today, he circulates to all these MPs the certificates he asked for, so we can be sure everyone is in their rightful place in the National Assembly.”

Unconstitutional
Article 155 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana makes it clear that MPs who are dual citizens will be disqualified from sitting in the National Assembly. Apart from Teixeira and Harmon, the other known parliamentarian who is a dual citizen is Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) leader and Deputy Speaker, Lenox Shuman. However, Shuman had submitted proof to Guyana Elections Commission that he has since given up his Canadian citizenship.

The issue of dual citizenship came up after December 21, 2018, when Alliance For Change (AFC) MP Charrandas Persaud voted in favour of the No-Confidence Motion, which toppled and effectively led to the booting of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition from Government.
At that time, a number of dual citizen MPs were sitting in the National Assembly on both sides of the aisle. From the APNU/AFC coalition those MPs were Minister of State, Joseph Harmon (United States citizenship); Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge; Business Minister Dominic Gaskin and Public Service Minister Dr Rupert Roopnarine (all British citizens) along with Persaud, who held Canadian citizenship.

They had to all resign as MPs. On the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) side, Adrian Anamaya, Odinga Lumumba, and Gail Teixeira all held foreign citizenship.
The Government used Persaud’s dual citizenship as a weapon in its arsenal seeking to overturn the No-Confidence Motion, arguing that Persaud was not qualified to be in the National Assembly and as such, his vote in favour of the motion was invalid.
This argument also formed part of the opinions presented to the then Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland in the hopes that he would reverse the No-Confidence Motion – something the Speaker ultimately refused to do.
In February of 2019, acting Chief Justice Roxane George had ruled on the case filed by Compton Reid over the dual citizenship of Persaud. While she ruled that the No-Confidence Motion was validly passed, Justice George reaffirmed Article 155 (1) of the Constitution.
As a consequence, both sides of the aisle had agreed that going forward, dual citizens would not be sent to Parliament. (G3)