BREAKING: APNU MP Jaipaul Sharma resigns

APNU Jaipaul Sharma on Thursday confirmed that he had resigned as a member of parliament.

Speaking to reporters outside the Public Buildings as the budget debate continued Sharma said his decision was as a result of the statement made by education minister Priya Manickchand about his father.

According to Sharma, he believed that the government is looking to use his father's legal troubles as a political football which could be detrimental to the APNU's political fortunes. The Justice For All Party member said he did not want to be the cause of APNU misfortune and as such thought resigning was the prudent thing to do.

However, APNU Chairman David Granger, who joined Sharma outside, said they were yet to receive a notice of resignation from Sharma who had communicated it directly to Speaker Raphael Trotman.

He dubbed Sharma's move "precipitate" and said they would be speaking to him to navigate the way forward.