The Opposition Chief Whip is seeking a Court order to remove Parliamentary Secretaries
Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones.
Kaieteur News – Partnership MP for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU + AFC) and Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones has filed a case in the High Court seeking an order to get Parliamentary Secretaries Sarah Browne and Vikash Ramkissoon to be removed from the National Assembly.
According to the Fixed Date Request (FDA) filed by Jones, the party seeks several statements among other things that the two parliamentary secretaries are not legitimate members of the National Assembly; who were not legally appointed to the post of Parliamentary Secretary of the Government of Guyana.
The Opposition MP is seeking an order directing the Speaker of the National Assembly, to prevent Browne and Ramkissoon from sitting in or taking part in the business of the National Assembly of Guyana’s 12th Parliament.
Parliamentary Secretary Vikash Ramkissoon.
Parliamentary Secretary Sarah Browne.
The case is represented by Attorneys-in-law, Roysdale Ford Senior Counsel, Mayo Robertson, Raphael Trotman, Geeta Chandan-Edmond, Amanza Walton-Desir, Olayne Joseph and Darren Wade.
In the application, the Opposition Chief Whip argues that no more than four Ministers and two Parliamentary Secretaries will be appointed by the Presiding Officer from among persons eligible for election to the National Assembly.
The document states that, as Articles 103 (3) and 186 of the Constitution paragraph (1), Parliamentary Secretaries may be appointed from persons who are elected members of the National Assembly or who are eligible for election at such members.
The document states that Article 86 (1) states that Parliamentary Secretaries may be appointed from persons who are elected members of the National Assembly or who are eligible to be elected as such members.
“Paragraph (1) shall have effect in relation to any period between the dissolution of Parliament and the day on which the next election of Assembly members is held as if Parliament had not been dissolved … a non-elected Parliamentary Secretary shall At the time of his appointment (unless he becomes such a member) as a member of the Assembly by virtue of it, ”the document continued.
The application stated that Browne and Ramkissoon were not elected as elected members of the National Assembly as provided for in Articles 60 (2), 160 (1) and (3) (a) and 232: subject to the provisions of Article 160 ( 2), that the number of members of the National Assembly be elected in accordance with the system of proportional representation prescribed in Article 160 (1). ”
This is the second case filed by Jones of this nature.
Earlier this month, Chief Justice (Ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire introduced a decision that the Minister for Industry and Trade in Tourism, Oneidge Walrond, was not a legitimate member of the National Assembly, given that she was a United States citizen at the time it was sworn in by President Irfaan Ali.
Jones had filed the action after discovering U.S. records revealed that Walrond was still a U.S. citizen when he was sworn in as Minister and Member of Parliament.