Oneidge Walrond, Dr. Ashni Singh sworn in as MPs

Ministers Oneidge Walrond and Dr Ashni Singh were on Wednesday sworn in as unelected Members of Parliament (MP); neither of them will having voting rights in the National Assembly since they are “technocrat” ministers.

Technocrat Ministers are those whose names are not nominated on a party’s list of candidates ahead of the general elections.

Walrond, the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, took her Oath for the second time after it was determined that she was not properly elected the first time given the fact that she held dual citizenship. She resigned and was sworn in again as Minister and now as a Parliamentarian.

Dr Singh was appointed by President Irfaan Ali on November 5, 2020 as a Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for finance.

Dr Singh has had a long career in public finance, first as a public servant in the roles of Deputy Auditor General and Director of Budget and then as Minister of Finance for two terms from 2006 to 2015.

After demitting ministerial office in 2015, Dr Singh was recruited by the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund. At the Fund, Dr Singh worked on a diverse range of countries in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe.

At the time of his departure from the Fund, Dr Singh was coordinating the institution’s technical assistance on public financial management across anglophone Africa, as well as, in selected countries in the Middle East.