A New and United Guyana in a press conference continued to denounce the Deputy Speaker Dr Asha Kissoon’s refusal to vacate the shared parliamentary seat and continued to call on her to do the “right thing”. The General Secretary of ANUG, Mr. Timothy Jonas, the Chairman of ANUG, Mr. Kian Jabour, Ms. Althia King, ANUG’s elected representative to Parliament, and other party executives were in attendance.
A New and United Guyana (ANUG), The Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), and The New Movement (TNM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) following the 2020 General Elections. This MoU outlined an order of rotation that would allow a representative from each party to take up the shared seat in parliament based on the number of votes they received. According to this arrangement, the New Movement was given 91 days but Dr. Kissoon has now occupied that seat for more than four months.
In his remarks to the media, ANUG Chairman Mr. Kian Jabour emphasized the party’s unhappiness with Dr Kissoon’s illegal and undemocratic action in occupying the joint seat, stating that the Deputy Speaker completely disregarded the MoU. The agreement signed by the three parties allowed the combination of their votes received to provide constituents who voted for these third parties a voice.
The General Secretary of ANUG, Mr. Timothy Jonas, stated that the Memorandum of Understanding is not legally enforceable and solely based on trust and integrity. According to Jonas, Dr. Kissoon’s position of not only staying in the rotating seat but also assuming the Deputy Speakership goes against the Party’s fundamental values.
Looking ahead, ANUG intends to decentralize government authority and give people more local influence by establishing autonomous Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs). ANUG continues to call on Dr Asha Kissoon to give up the seat but has stated that the party will uphold its values of integrity and democracy and will continue to serve the nation’s people regardless of whether the seat is relinquished to them.