TNM’s parliamentary seat a matter for GECOM, parliament office -Jagdeo

Last Updated on Friday, 6 December 2024, 20:25 by Writer

As opposition political parties press for The New Movement’s (TNM) Dr Asha Kissoon to be replaced because the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) Legal Officer, Kurt Da Silva said an error was made in selecting her, General Secretary of the governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo said he has no preference one way or another.

“This is a matter entirely for GECOM and the Parliament office. The political parties have no standing in this matter,” he told a news conference on Thursday.

Ms Kissoon has overwhelmingly voted in the National Assembly with the PPP, but Mr Jagdeo said his position on the legality of her occupancy of the parliamentary seat had nothing to do with him. “At this point in time, it has nothing to with my comfort or discomfort. There are the laws of the country and there is the Constitution of Guyana,” he said. 

The PPP General Secretary believed that the controversy could only be settled if GECOM seeks external legal advice on whether that election management authority could constitutionally and legally remove a parliamentarian after that person has been extracted by the Representative of a party’s list of candidates. If GECOM has no role, that would be left to the Speaker of the National Assembly or ultimately an election petition.

An election petition must be filed within 28 days after the declaration of results, according to the National Assembly (Validity of Elections) Act.

The Alliance for Chage (AFC), A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) said GECOM’s mistake in allowing Dr Kissoon to become a parliamentarian although she was ineligible has resulted in a loss of confidence in that election management body, in particular its Chairman, Retired Justice Claudette Singh.

But Mr Jagdeo said the opposition was on a campaign to discredit the Chairman as part of a plan to challenge the 2025 election process.

“This must be studied carefully and fairly applied and if it is fairly applied and they decide ultimately that the person there should not have been there, what should be the remedy, they should identify the remedy and then if it is decided after a careful examination that the person has a right to be there, then that is the end of the matter,” he said.

The GECOM’s Legal Officer last month said GECOM erred by allowing a TNM representative to become a parliamentarian under the rules governing a joinder list. With the Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) having won the most votes—2,657 compared to ANUG’s 2,313 and TNM’s 244—GECOM said the LJP should have continued to occupy the seat throughout the five-year term following the 2020 elections.