Opposition MPs Give Speaker 14 Days to Convene Election of Opposition Leader

Two weeks after Guyana’s 13^th Parliament was convened, sixteen non-governmental Members of Parliament (MPs) from the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party have issued a formal demand for Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir to facilitate the election of the Leader of the Opposition. The Speaker was served with a lawyer’s letter on Monday warning that court proceedings will follow if he fails to act within fourteen days. Repeated attempts to contact the Speaker for clarification on the issue were unsuccessful, with calls and visits to his office yielding no response.

The threatened legal action arises from what the MPs describe as the Speaker’s “unlawful refusal/failure” to convene the meeting required under Article 184(1) of the Constitution. The letter, dated November 17, 2025, was dispatched by Attorney-at-Law Siand Dhurjon on behalf of the sixteen MPs, including WIN Leader Azruddin Mohamed, Dawn Hastings, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, and Natasha Singh-Lewis.

The letter was signed and stamped as received by the Speaker’s Secretariat. According to the MPs, immediately after being sworn in during the first sitting of the 13^th Parliament on November 3, 2025, they requested that the election be convened the same day. The legal notice states that the Speaker verbally informed Singh-Lewis he would not convene the meeting on November 3 and added that “it doesn’t have to be until the next sitting.”

The MPs contend there was “no impediment” to holding the meeting, noting that all non-governmental MPs were present at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre and remained there long after the sitting ended. Singh-Lewis’ subsequent email seeking an update reportedly received no reply.

Earlier this month, former parliamentarian and government minister Annette Ferguson, commenting on the matter, explained that the election of the Opposition Leader is not an agenda item on the National Assembly’s Order Paper. She said the process is triggered by the Speaker convening a meeting of all non-governmental MPs.

Ferguson outlined that WIN party leader Azruddin Mohamed—who holds 16 of the Assembly’s 65 seats, the highest number for the Opposition—is expected to be elected to the post once the meeting is held.

She further explained that all non-governmental MPs must assemble at a location designated by the Speaker, where they nominate candidates and vote by a show of hands. Ferguson cited Article 184(1) of the Constitution, which provides:

“The Leader of the Opposition shall be elected by and from among the non-governmental members of the National Assembly at a meeting held under the chairmanship of the Speaker of the National Assembly, who shall not have the right to vote.”

Ferguson, along with others have warned that delaying the election risks creating a constitutional crisis. The former government minister stressed that the Leader of the Opposition is a “most important constitutional officeholder” with “numerous significant responsibilities under law.”

Leaving the post vacant, she noted, disrupts the functioning of the executive, as the President is required to consult the Opposition Leader on key appointments, including the Police Commissioner, Chancellor, Chief Justice, and members of the Judicial Service Commission.

The results of Guyana’s September 1, 2025 General Elections were declared by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on September 6, 2025. The names of all Members of Parliament have been printed in the Official Gazette since September.

With the fourteen-day deadline now issued, the MPs say they are prepared to seek relief from the Supreme Court if the Speaker does not convene the Constitution-mandated meeting “promptly with all reasonable speed commensurate to the importance” of the office.

The standoff raises urgent concerns about a potential institutional deadlock and a looming constitutional crisis if the Opposition Leader’s post remains unfilled.