Leader of The New Movement list calls for Kissoon's recall and probe by GECOM

With the Leader of The New Movement party, Dr. Asha Kissoon, still not budging from her parliamentary seat to make way for the representative from A New and United Guyana, a new controversy has erupted over who really holds the Representative of the List position for The New Movement.

Last week, former TNM member, Gerald Forde, wrote to the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission indicating that he remains the Representative of the List for TNM, but he was not the one who signed the letter for Dr. Asha Kissoon to be appointed to the National Assembly in keeping with the law and requirements of the Elections Commission.

The letter was signed by Kenrick Morgan, as the Representative of the List, but according to Gerald Forde, Mr. Morgan does not hold that position, since he still is the Representative of the list.

Forde now wants to recall Dr. Kissoon as Member of Parliament, utilizing the powers of the Representative of the List. He also wants the Guyana Elections Commission to examine the issue since he remains on its record as the Representative of the List from the last elections.

While Forde is awaiting a response from the Guyana Elections Commission, A New and United Guyana continues to call on Dr. Kissoon to relinquish her Parliamentary seat to allow their representative to take up the position in the National Assembly in keeping with the Joinder parties agrreement.

Today, the Representative of the List for A New and United Guyana, Dr. Mark France, told News Source that he remembers seeing documents with Morgan signing as the Representative for The New Movement’s List.

“I did see a document that came, this was sometime mid-March around the 16, this document was sent to me by Dr Kissoon, who one of her representatives Dr Kenrick Morgan, who she did informed us was her, Representative of the List. And I knew from before our agreement, it was Dr. Gerald Forde, and Dr Josh Khani, who were the Representative and Deputy Representative….So a document did come and it came with the space for the three signatures, I did sign on behalf of ANUG, stating yes, it is okay for Asha to go second, and the document had to get the signature of LJP and of course TNM,” Dr France explained.

The appointed TNM Representative of the List, Gerald Forde and the Deputy Representative, Dr. Josh Kanhai, have indicated that while they resigned from the party, they remained as the Representative and Deputy Representative of the List.

It was made clear that they never wrote to GECOM requesting that they be removed from those two positions.

The Representation of the People Act mandates the Chief Election Officer to call upon either the Representative or Deputy Representative of a list for the extraction of names, but Forde said he was never approached by the Chief Elections Officer.

He now wants GECOM to launch an investigation into the matter.

Forde reasoned that if the correct procedures were not followed, it would mean that “Dr Kissoon would have ascended to the National Assembly in a manner that is not in keeping with the Representation of the People Act; Dr Kissoon may be acting illegitimately in the House of Assembly; and that GECOM may not have done its due diligence in confirming the true identity of the Representative of the List for TNM.”

Dr France, said while at the time ANUG had no reason to question Morgan’s appointment as TNM’s Representative of the List, he supports the call for an investigation into the matter, and call for Dr. Kissoon to be recalled.

“Another key part of this agreement was after the June 30^th date, when her three months would have been over, it was decided that ANUG representative would give a portion of their salary to the party, just as a means of an income, and similarly when we spoke to Asha, she was like, after June 30^th half of my salary would go towards ANUG and TNM as part of the good faith agreement that we had. We are still to see any of that,” Dr France said.

With all of the swirling controversy surrounding the joinder parties parliamentary seat, Dr. Kissoon is maintaining her silence on the issue as she continues to sit as a Member of Parliament.