Suresh Singh, who served as Director of Youth in the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry is now a Member of Parliament, replacing People’s Progressive Party (PPP) back-bencher Dharamkumar Seeraj.
Seeraj resigned from the National Assembly to take up the post of High Commissioner of Guyana to India.
Singh on Friday took the Oath of office to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the current Parliament.
He was selected from the list of candidates for the PPP in accordance with the Representation of the People’s Act, and submitted to the National Assembly on January 17, 2025, by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to be a member of the National Assembly.
Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir thanked Seeraj for his service in the Parliament.
Seeraj, a long-standing member of the ruling People’s Progressive Party, has been a Member of Parliament since 2006. Professionally, his career was primarily in the agriculture sector with him holding key positions within the rice industry including President of the Rice Producers Association (RPA).
In July 2024, Guyana had written to the Indian Government, seeking accreditation for Dharamkumar Seeraj to be appointed as the new High of Commissioner of Guyana to India – a position that has been vacant for nearly three years.
Seeraj, a long-standing member of the ruling People’s Progressive Party, has been a Member of Parliament since 2006. Professionally, his career was primarily in the agriculture sector with him holding key positions within the rice industry including President of the Rice Producers Association (RPA)
As a parliamentarian, Seeraj had represented Guyana at the African, Caribbean and Pacific and European Union (ACP-EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly back in 2013.
His appointment would see Guyana seeking to further strengthen already strong bilateral collaborations in multiple areas especially agriculture.
His appointment will see him filling the diplomatic post that became vacant in October 2022 after Guyana’s then High Commissioner to India, Charrandas Persaud, was recalled following the circulation of a video which showed him verbally abusing a female Indian citizen outside his official residence in New Delhi.
While an investigation by Indian authorities found no evidence of misconduct during the August 2021 incident, which only came to light more than a year later, President Dr Irfaan Ali, emphasising the importance of representatives of Guyana conducting themselves in the highest regard, had said it was in the “best interest” that Persaud return home.
The Guyana Government has been placing much emphasis on strengthening its foreign policy, which includes filling the various diplomatic posts at overseas missions.
