Opposition Member of Parliament Lenox Shuman has committed to submitting proof of his foreign citizenship renunciation to the Clerk of the National Assembly by this weekend.
Shuman, who was Tuesday elected Deputy Speaker, had announced that he has relinquished his Canadian citizenship in order to contest the March 2 Elections as the presidential candidate of the recently-formed Liberty and Justice Party (LJP).
LJP, through a joinder with the A New and United Guyana (ANUG) and The New Movement (TNM), won a seat in the National Assembly. Shuman was selected to be their first parliamentary representative.
But in order to be a Member of Parliament, one must comply with Article 155 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana which outlines that persons who are dual citizens will be disqualified from sitting in the National Assembly.
National Assembly Clerk Sherlock Issacs had written to all parliamentarians ahead of the opening of the 12th Parliament, reminding them of this constitutional stipulation and asked that those who previously held foreign citizenship to submit proof that it had been relinquished.
When the parliament convened on Tuesday, only government parliamentarian Gail Teixeira had submitted evidence of her foreign citizenship relinquishment.
Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon, who was also a dual citizen, had claimed to have submitted his but the National Assembly Clerk said he only received the documents this morning.
As for Shuman, Issacs explained that the new parliamentarian is having some difficulties accessing the relevant documents but has committed to providing the proof by weekend.
“Mr. Shuman was here to see me. And he said there was a slight problem. His documents were submitted to the Elections Commission but sent back to Canada. He’s working towards getting something to me by the end of this week.”
“His letter of renunciation was sent back as well. But he’s going to get a letter from the Canadian High Commission, to me, by the end of this week. And he’ll use that until his certificate can be returned to him,” the National Assembly Clerk explained.
