Three presidential candidates, who were barred by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from contesting the upcoming elections, will now be able to remain in the race.
This was confirmed by GECOM Public Relations Officer (PRO) Yolanda Warde, who explained that the three candidates in question all provided documentation proving that they have officially relinquished their foreign citizenship.
The individuals were banned owing to their dual citizenship status, which, according to Guyana’s Constitution, prevents them from being a Member of Parliament.
The decision means that Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) candidate, Lennox Shuman; United Republic Party (URP) Presidential Candidate Vishnu Bandhu, and Dr Valerie Leung of the People’s Republican Party (PRP) are still in the running.
“The candidates will remain on the list. What they have provided GECOM with is the documents by which one, approval was granted and two, their applications to renounce their citizenship,” Ward explained.
Whether they were dual citizens at the time when they signed statutory declaration forms on Nomination Day is another matter. Asked specifically if GECOM was able to determine whether this was the case, Warde declined to comment.
Previously, GECOM Commissioners themselves had announced that a decision was taken at a statutory meeting to have Bandhu, Shuman and Leung removed from the candidate list because they had allegedly signed the statutory declaration forms while they were dual citizens.
In a previous interview with this publication, Bandhu had admitted that he only finalised his relinquishment process after Nomination Day, which was January 10.
Shuman had meanwhile also admitted during a press conference last month that he was still a dual citizen, but was awaiting a document from the Canadian High Commission to affirm that he has relinquished his citizenship.
Signing a statutory declaration form is a tacit acknowledgement that a candidate meets the requirements to be able to sit in the National Assembly. Article 155 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana 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.”
Section four of the Statutory Declaration Act, Chapter 5:09 states that “Everyone who makes a declaration according to this Act containing any statement false in fact, which he knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable to imprisonment for one year.”
