Attorney General Clarifies: “I Am Not GECOM’s Legal Advisor”
Tiana Cole | HGP Nightly News
Days after Alliance for Change (AFC) leader Nigel Hughes formally wrote to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) calling for the appointment of an independent legal advisor, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall has publicly clarified his position.
Speaking on his televised program Issues in the News on Tuesday, the Attorney General addressed the growing concern, stating:
“Permit me to clarify for the public that the Attorney General is not the legal advisor of GECOM—neither has the Attorney General ever held himself out to be.”
Mr. Nandlall explained that while he serves as the chief legal officer of the state and represents the government of Guyana, his office is not the official legal counsel to GECOM. He further stated that while state and independent agencies, including GECOM in the past, have requested legal opinions from the Attorney General’s Chambers, such engagements do not equate to a formal advisory role.
“The Attorney General has offered legal opinions to many independent constitutional and statutory agencies,” he noted, adding that this practice was not unusual under the previous APNU+AFC administration.
The clarification comes in response to concerns raised by AFC leader Nigel Hughes, who in a letter to GECOM Chair Justice Claudette Singh, urged the immediate appointment of a professionally qualified, nonpartisan legal advisor. Hughes expressed unease over GECOM’s lack of an independent legal counsel since the dismissal of its former legal advisor and warned that reliance on the sitting Attorney General’s opinions could compromise the commission’s impartiality.
“We therefore urge the commission to immediately reconsider this development and appoint a legal advisor whose independence is beyond question,” Hughes wrote.
The AFC maintains that such an appointment is critical to preserving GECOM’s transparency, fairness, and independence as the country prepares for upcoming General and Regional Elections.
