HGP Nightly News – After nearly three months of parliamentary inactivity and repeated, unanswered calls for the election of a Leader of the Opposition, Guyana’s National Assembly is set to reconvene next Wednesday for the presentation of Budget 2026, even as constitutional and political tensions over the prolonged delay remain unresolved.
The 13th Parliament last met on November 3, 2025, when government and opposition Members of Parliament were sworn in. Since that single sitting, no further meetings have been called, despite sustained appeals from opposition parties, civil society voices, and international partners urging the Speaker of the National Assembly to convene the meeting required for non-government MPs to elect a Leader of the Opposition.
Opposition parties argue that the absence of an Opposition Leader weakens parliamentary oversight and leaves the legislature incomplete at a critical moment, particularly with the national budget approaching. They contend that multiple requests to the Speaker to facilitate the constitutional process have gone without response, amounting to a deliberate stalling of parliamentary business.
In response to claims that the Government cannot lawfully present a budget without an Opposition Leader, Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister Kwame McCoy has rejected that position, describing it as constitutionally flawed. In a public statement, McCoy insisted that Parliament is lawfully constituted, pointing out that opposition MPs were duly sworn in when Parliament convened in November.
According to McCoy, the existence of sworn opposition Members means there is, in fact, an Opposition in the National Assembly, even in the absence of a formally elected Opposition Leader. He argued that the Constitution does not prohibit the presentation of a national budget under those circumstances and confirmed that the Government will proceed with Budget 2026 as scheduled.
Constitutionally, Article 184 outlines the process for electing a Leader of the Opposition, requiring non-government MPs to make that selection at a meeting chaired by the Speaker. However, the Constitution does not specify a timeframe within which the Speaker must convene that meeting. This omission has become central to the current standoff, with critics arguing that the lack of a deadline is being used to justify prolonged inaction, while the Government maintains that the budget process is not legally contingent on the election being completed first.
While Parliament will now meet next Wednesday to receive the national budget, the broader dispute remains unresolved. Opposition figures maintain that the long delay in sittings and the failure to facilitate the Opposition Leader process undermine democratic accountability, regardless of whether the budget can technically be read.
As Budget Day approaches, the central question is no longer only whether the presentation is lawful, but whether the continued paralysis of Parliament prior to the budget has eroded public confidence in the legislature’s ability to function as an effective check on executive power.
