Former Regional Vice Chairperson for Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Nandranie Coonjah was officially sworn in as a Member of Parliament (MP) replacing Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall as a parliamentarian.
She took the oath of office before the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mansoor Nadir on Thursday during a sitting of the House.
Earlier this month, Dharamlall resigned as both a Minister and Member of Parliament (MP). While the Minister within his Ministry, Anand Persaud, has been carrying out his ministerial functions, Coonjah has been identified as his parliamentary replacement.
This publication has been able to confirm that Coonjah, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Region Two candidate and a longstanding Commissioner on the Women and Gender Equality Commission, was selected after the party wrote to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to extract her name from the geographic list of candidates.
GECOM Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud then wrote to the National Assembly last Tuesday, informing them that Coonjah, who has also served as acting Regional Chairperson, was selected.
In a brief interview with this publication, Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Issacs related that Coonjah can be sworn in as early as the next time the National Assembly meets – that is, Thursday, at the 65th sitting of the 12th Parliament.
It was announced on July 4, 2023, that Dharamlall had resigned, following allegations of rape that were levelled against him. Subsequently, however, the complainant declined to pursue the matter. The victim had given a “no further action statement” to investigators in the presence of one of her parents and a representative of the Child Care and Protection Agency.
This had led to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali Hack, SC, advising the Police not to proceed with the case. The DPP, in her advice, stated that the victim’s decision to withdraw the complaint was not influenced by anyone, and that same was done in her best interest.
Based on this new development, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) had revealed that, “the Director of Public Prosecutions concluded that, in the absence of the victim’s complaint, there is no legal provision for the Police to proceed with the matter.”
“The DPP also proffered her advice based on the fact that the virtual complainant’s statement was taken by a forensic interviewer in the presence of a parent, a Child Care officer, and a Police officer; and that such statement was free and voluntary,” the GPF had also related in their statement.
President Dr Irfaan Ali has since said that Dharamlall’s future in the PPP will be determined at the party’s congress. Asked about the possibility of Dharamlall being hired by the Government for any other positions, the Head of State had said during a recent press conference that this was something he has not considered nor has it been requested by the former Minister.
“In the course of natural justice, the system that supports natural justice must be allowed to work and that is what the President did. Whether the Minister who is a citizen will have any (further) work in Government is not something I have considered nor has he requested, at this moment,” the President had said.
