Deputy Speaker bands together with government and opposition to denounce Venezuela’s spurious claim

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Asha Kissoon has thrown her support behind the Government of Guyana in its pursuit to ensure a peaceful and lawful resolution of the border controversy currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

She was addressing the Extraordinary Sitting of the National Assembly on Monday.

“We condemn this referendum and we will not be having it. At the end of the day, we are all Guyanese and in the highest house of this country we will stand as Guyanese to defend our Guyana and Essequibo,” she stated.

Dr Kissoon commended international partners who stand in support of Guyana, as she called on others to do the same.

During the Extraordinary sitting, both government and opposition Members of Parliament have rejected Venezuela’s territorial claim of the Essequibo Region.

The motion, presented by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, sought to affirm the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana and to denounce the referendum in Venezuela that is scheduled for December 3, 2023.

On September 21, 2023, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela decided to hold a referendum on December 3, which aims to get the Venezuelan population’s vote on whether there should be an annexing of the Essequibo territory, in direct contravention of international law and acceptable practices of diplomacy.

Meanwhile, the Government of Guyana has since requested urgent provisional measures from the ICJ which the court has agreed to hearing on November 14.