“A Democratic Farce” — Simona Broomes Slams Gov’t Over 94-Day Silent Parliament Ahead of 60th Independence
By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – Dr. Simona Broomes, leader of the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP), has added her formidable voice to the wall of opposition and diplomatic figures calling out the government’s continued freeze of the National Assembly. Speaking out as the country gears up for its historic 60th Independence Anniversary on May 26, the former cabinet minister asked a fundamental question regarding state accountability and constitutional integrity.
“How do we truly celebrate sixty years of independence when our parliament, the ultimate cornerstone of our democracy, is completely silent?” Broomes questioned during an interview with Nightly News.
A 94-Day Oversight Blackout
The ALP leader expressed deep alarm over the extended period of legislative inactivity, noting that the National Assembly has not met for a single sitting since the passage of the 2026 National Budget on February 14.
Broomes stressed that by keeping parliament locked for 94 days, the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration has effectively sidelined the state’s most critical democratic branch. This legislative freeze has effectively halted parliamentary scrutiny over massive public infrastructural spending and ballooning oil revenues.
Furthermore, she highlighted that key operational checks and balances—most notably the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) bi-partisan review of government expenditure—remain completely paralyzed as long as the full house is kept in an unscheduled hiatus.
The REO Purge: “A Transparency Bluff”
Turning her attention to recent administrative overhauls, the former labor minister heavily criticized the government’s justification for sacking nine of the country’s ten Regional Executive Officers (REOs) last week.
While Attorney General Anil Nandlall defended the move as a standard rotation at the close of an electoral cycle, Broomes dismissed the administration’s claims of promoting clean governance as political theater.
“The government pulled a massive bluff by changing those persons, claiming it was done in the name of transparency and accountability,” Broomes insisted. “But how can you claim transparency when you completely block the PAC in the National Assembly? That is the exact forum where we are legally supposed to go and scrutinize how those very regional allocations are being spent. Right now, that scrutiny is simply not happening.”
Disrespecting the Offices of the People
Broomes warned that this prolonged, systemic neglect of parliamentary intervals does not happen in a vacuum. Rather, she argued, it erodes the public’s respect for foundational constitutional processes and elected democratic offices.
For the ALP leader, treating the National Assembly as an optional administrative tool rather than a mandatory constitutional organ is an insult to the generations of Guyanese citizens who fought to establish self-governance.
“The government’s complete disregard for the National Assembly, particularly as we approach our diamond jubilee year of independence, is a sign of deep disrespect toward our national institutions,” Broomes concluded. “The very least we owe to our nation as a people is to stand up collectively against these maneuvers. The ruling party’s version of democracy has become a farce.”
Broomes’ public challenge intensifies a coordinated multi-party pushback, arriving on the heels of formal petitions sent to the Clerk of the National Assembly by the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) and growing calls for accountability from Western diplomatic missions in Georgetown.
