Over a month after the September 1 General and Regional Elections, Guyana’s 13th Parliament remains unopened, a delay that has prompted fierce criticism from both political stakeholders and civil society voices. The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and political commentator GHK Lall have accused the PPP/C government of undermining democratic governance by stalling the convening of the National Assembly.
While the executive branch under President Irfaan Ali has moved swiftly to swear in Cabinet and resume government operations, the legislative branch, a key pillar of the democratic framework, remains conspicuously absent.
“How can we argue that government is working when its lawmaking body is non-existent?” the WPA questioned in a media release dated October 1. “The president did not hesitate to name and swear in his cabinet… Why a different standard for the National Assembly?”
In the 2020 General Elections, Irfaan Ali was sworn in as President on August 2, 2020. Members of Parliament for the 12th Parliament were subsequently sworn in on September 1, 2020 — 30 days later. Following the 2015 elections, David A. Granger was sworn in as President on May 16, 2015, and the 11th Parliament was convened on June 10, 2015 — 25 days after his inauguration. In the 2025 elections, President Ali was sworn in on September 7.
“A Recipe for Autocracy” – WPA Warns of Executive Supremacy
The WPA painted a grim picture of what it describes as growing executive overreach and the erosion of constitutional balance.
“The executive has held the judiciary at ransom by not regularising its top officers… What we have in effect is executive supremacy underpinned by paramountcy of the party. This is a sure recipe for autocracy and one-party rule,” the party charged.
Calling for urgent constitutional reform, the WPA advocated for statutory timelines for the convening of parliament and the swearing-in of MPs. The party further called for a strict separation of powers, including removing ministers from sitting in Parliament, a practice they say undermines the legislature’s ability to function as an independent oversight body.
“It makes a mockery of the doctrine of separation of powers… In effect what we have are ministers overseeing themselves,” the release stated.
Lall: “Whither Parliament?” A Democracy in Name Only?
Echoing the WPA’s concerns in a sharply worded op-ed, independent columnist GHK Lall warned that the longer Parliament remains shuttered, the weaker Guyana’s democratic credentials become.
“The longer that Parliament remains on the sidelines… the less democracy should be spoken of, could be taken seriously,” he wrote.
Lall pointed out that despite the President signing proclamation orders since July 3, nearly two months before the elections, and a commanding seven-seat majority in hand, the PPP government has yet to signal when Parliament will be convened.
“It is called the National Assembly for a reason… it encapsulates all the people,” Lall emphasised. “The PPP Government should be there already. So, too, the [We Invest in Nationhood] WIN party, the [A Partnership for National Unity] APNU party, and the Forward Guyana Movement [FGM] party,” who received 36, 16, 12 and 1 seat, respectively, in the 65-seat Assembly.
He warned that delaying the National Assembly until the maximum allowable date of November 3 would be a “step in the wrong direction” and send troubling signals of executive hesitation or political manipulation.
“On another note, the longer the government drags its feet… the more it risks looking weak and uncertain, if not uneasy,” he observed.
Audit Reports Await, Oversight Lags
Lall also referenced the mounting pile of public expenditure reports, including from the Audit Office, that demand parliamentary scrutiny.
“There is a considerable amount of parliamentary oversight waiting on a signal from the government that the people’s house will be opened,” he noted.
With billions in oil revenues and public procurement spending under review, critics say that Parliament’s absence leaves the public in the dark and undermines accountability at a time when oversight is most needed.
Is the PPP Avoiding the 13th Parliament Literally?
In a lighter, though pointed dig, Lall even questioned whether the ruling party’s delay might be tied to superstitions about the number 13.
“The PPP leadership, the two cannot be that superstitious, that anxious, about the number 13, are they?” he mused.
Though meant tongue-in-cheek, the line underscores a broader frustration over the opacity surrounding Parliament’s delay and the absence of any official explanation or timeline from the government.
A Crisis of Legitimacy or Strategy of Control?
The delay in convening Parliament has now become more than a scheduling issue. It is increasingly framed as a constitutional crisis in the making, or at minimum, a deliberate political strategy to dominate the national narrative without the burden of opposition scrutiny.
“Guyana is not a monarchy,” the WPA reminded. “While the letter of the law gives that power to the president, the spirit of the law deters him from using that power as if he were a king.”
Whether Parliament is opened tomorrow or weeks from now, the damage may already be done in the eyes of critics who see this episode as part of a broader erosion of democratic norms under a dominant executive. Presently, the National Assembly remains silent and so too does the government on when that silence will end.
