Article l55 could pose a problem for parliamentarians who hold two passports Amending the constitution to provide for dual citizenship may be the answer Stabroek News December 10, 2000 Despite the fact that many Parliamentarians hold passports from other countries there have been no changes to the Constitution which at present may prohibit their membership in the National Assembly. Under Article 155 of the 1980 Constitution "No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who is by virtue of his own act under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state." The issue is timely given the case of two candidates holding foreign passports of the United National Congress party for the coming elections in Trinidad who were recently found to have given false information on a nomination form which used the same words as Article 155. They have since sought to renounce their foreign citizenship. It is well known that in Guyana at least three members of the government benches have passports for North American countries, two of whom are cabinet ministers. And there may be several more on both sides of the house. Section 11 of the Representation of the People Act requires candidates to fill out a Form 3 "stating his qualifications and consent made before a justice of the peace." Form 3, amended in 1980, states that a signing candidate "is aware of the provisions of Articles 53 and 155 of the Constitution with respect to the qualifications and disqualifications for election as a member of the National Assembly.." Despite the anomaly, the Report of the Oversight Committee (OSC) on Constitutional Reform makes no recommendations to alter Article 155. Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, a member of the OSC, believes that the provisions really should have been changed to cater for the present realities. But he believed no Guyanese court would interpret the legislation on allegiance so severely given this country's relaxed laws on resident Commonwealth citizens being able to vote here and an informal acceptance of Guyanese holding dual citizenship. He noted that besides America many countries do not require any pledge of allegiance to obtain a passport. The only amendments being made to the constitution concerning citizenship relate to the eligibility for the office of the President and Prime Minister. These amendments provide that candidates must be born in Guyana and have been resident for at least seven years before taking office. This newspaper in editorials has noted that under Article 46 of the Constitution ordinary citizens can also be deprived of their citizenship by the President if he is satisfied that any citizen has by registration, naturalisation or other voluntary and formal act (other than marriage) acquired the citizenship of another country. Though this has never been done, it has suggested that the answer is to amend the constitution to permit dual citizenship. It has also pointed out that there are thousands of Guyanese abroad who have acquired citizenship and who may wish to remigrate. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today