By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News |
Nearly two and a half months after Guyana’s 13th Parliament convened for its first and only sitting, the National Assembly has yet to reconvene, leaving the opposition benches without a formally elected Leader of the Opposition and raising growing concerns about legislative oversight and constitutional balance.
The 13th Parliament met on November 3, 2025, but has not sat since. Critics argue that the prolonged inactivity goes beyond routine scheduling delays and now represents a period of institutional silence at the country’s highest decision-making body. While major government business continues outside the chamber, opposition parliamentarians and civil society voices contend that the absence of sittings has weakened sustained scrutiny of executive action and routine oversight of public spending.
A Member of Parliament from the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party has warned that prolonged delay risks normalising parliamentary dormancy, arguing that the longer the Assembly remains inactive, the more entrenched the situation becomes.
President Irfaan Ali has rejected claims that his administration is deliberately stalling Parliament to prevent WIN leader Azruddin Mohamed from being formally installed as Leader of the Opposition. The President has maintained that the selection of an opposition leader is solely the business of opposition Members of Parliament, while insisting that his government remains focused on national development priorities and preparations for upcoming policy initiatives.
However, concerns about optics and governance have intensified amid developments on the parliamentary calendar. Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir is currently overseas attending a Commonwealth forum for parliamentary speakers, at a time when critics say the Assembly should be reconvened to resolve the opposition leadership issue.
Legal voices have also weighed in. Kamal Ramkarran, President of the Guyana Bar Association, has cautioned that the impasse should be resolved swiftly, noting that the Leader of the Opposition is a core constitutional officeholder whose absence affects the functioning of state bodies and key appointment processes.
Diplomatic missions have similarly expressed concern, publicly underscoring the importance of a functioning Parliament and urging that the Assembly be convened to facilitate the election of an Opposition Leader.
The debate has been further sharpened by the contrast presented by the President’s upcoming overseas engagement. President Ali is scheduled to travel to Belize from February 1 to 3, where he is expected to address the opening of a joint parliamentary session that includes both government and opposition lawmakers.
Locally, critics have seized on the symbolism, questioning how Guyana’s President can address another country’s legislature while his own Parliament remains stalled and he has yet to deliver an address to the 13th National Assembly.
As questions mount over when the Speaker will reconvene the Assembly and when opposition MPs will be facilitated to elect a Leader of the Opposition, Guyana remains in a position where Parliament exists largely on paper and a key constitutional office remains conspicuously unfilled.
