Nandranie Coonjah, a People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) candidate, was on Thursday sworn in as a Member of Parliament, replacing Nigel Dharamlall who resigned.
The Oath was administered by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs as the sitting of the National Assembly got underway.
Her first action as a new Member of Parliament was voting for the new Deputy Speaker. She voted in support of Dr. Asha Kissoon who is the Leader of The New Movement (TNM) and representative of the joinder list in the National Assembly.
Dr. Kissoon was nominated by Government Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira.
Although Coonjah replaces Dharamlall in Parliament, it is not automatic that she will also take up the post of Local Government and Regional Development Minister, previously held by Dharamlall.
The ministerial replacement will have to be appointed and the Oath of Office administered through a separate procedure led by President Dr. Irfaan Ali.
Like Dharamlall, Ms. Coonjah was chosen as a Parliamentarian for Region Two on the Geographic List of Candidates for the PPP in the 2020 General and Regional elections.
In Region Two, besides Dharamlall and Coonjah, the other geographical constituency candidates are Vilma De Silva, who currently serves as the Regional Chairman and Arnold Adams, the Prime Minister’s representative in the region.
Under Guyana’s electoral system, 25 of the 65 Members of Parliament are elected from the 10 geographical constituencies; the remaining 40 are pulled from the national top-up list.
Dharamlall’s resignation was announced by President Dr. Irfaan Ali earlier this month, following allegations by a schoolgirl that she was raped by Dharamlall.
