Submit proof of relinquished foreign citizenship – Parliament Clerk to MPs

Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs has written to all incoming Members of Parliament (MPs) reminding them of Article 155 (1) of the Constitution and asked for proof that those who once held foreign citizenship, have relinquished such.
Article 155 (1) of the Constitution states: “No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who – (a) is, by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”
Isaacs reminded that in 2019, the Court of Appeal ruled conclusively on the matter that a person was not eligible to be elected a member of the National Assembly if they held dual citizenship.
“I am, therefore, asking those Members who held allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or State during the Eleventh Parliament, and have relinquished same, to submit proof of relinquishment to me. Further, I am advising all other Members to ensure that they are in conformity with Article 155 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana,” Isaacs said in his letter.
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 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. Teixeira, Harmon and Greenidge all gave up their citizenships, although only Teixeira and Harmon will be returning to the National Assembly for the 12th Parliament which opens today. They have both renounced their foreign citizenship. (G2)