Charrandas tapped Persaud as Guyana’s next High Commissioner to India

Former AFC MP Charrandas Persaud

Charandas Persaud, a former Congress for Change (AFC) senator whose break with the previous Government made them tackle power through a No Confidence Motion (NCM) in 2018, has been tipped to be High Guyana’s new commissioner for India.

According to a well-placed source, Persaud’s appointment along with the appointment of several other key diplomats is likely to be announced soon, as the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government seeks to fill various diplomatic posts and shake up the foreign service. looms.

The previous High Commissioner for India was Ambassador David Pollard. Prior to Pollard, Guyana’s former Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj, held that position until 2015, when the Partnership for National Unity / Alliance for Change (APNU / AFC) came into effect.

Guyana and India, which established bilateral relations in 1966 following Guyana’s Independence, have strong diplomatic and economic ties that are reinforced by several high-level deals brokered through India’s diplomatic presence in Guyana.

One such project is the Ogle-Diamond bypass project, which will see a total of 26 kilometers of road being built, connecting two of the country’s major thoroughfares through a $ 50 million US Credit Line (LOC).

Charandas Persaud, for his part, has been living in Canada since fleeing Guyana under the pressure of death threats immediately after he used his conscience vote to side with the PPP during the NCM on December 22, 2018.

The former APNU / AFC Government argued mercilessly but unsuccessfully, first in the National Assembly and then in the High Court, that the motion was not validly passed. Among their arguments was that the majority of 65 was not 33 and that Charandas Persaud was not eligible to be in Parliament because he held dual citizenship with Canada.

They were successful in the Court of Appeal, which overturned the no confidence vote. All the while, the constitutional deadline came in March 2019, by which time Granger should have called elections, expired. But the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which upheld the passage of the No Confidence Motion, justified Persaud.

However, the former APNU / AFC Government found other ways to delay election demand, including through the use of House to House Registration. Meanwhile, under the old Government, a Guyana Police (GPF) investigation into Persaud was pursued and bribed to vote as it did.

This inquiry has never gone anywhere and there are many who have speculated that it is politically motivated. Persaud returned to Guyana only after the Government changed hands, making an appearance during a sitting of the National Assembly in October last year.

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