Leader of the Opposition, Azruddin Mohamed, recently told the media that he had written to the Opposition-nominated members of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), thanking them for their service and requesting they step down. However, the situation appears more complex. For the first time in post-independence Guyana, neither of the two major parties—the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) or the People’s National Congress (PNC)—holds the presidency or the position of Opposition Leader.
The WIN Party, led by Mohamed, is now the main Opposition in the 13th Parliament with 16 seats, followed by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), in which the PNC is the major partner, with 12 seats, and the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) with one seat, in the 65-member National Assembly where the PPP holds a governing majority of 33 seats.
The Opposition-nominated commissioners—Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin, and Desmond Trotman—responded to Mohamed, declining to meet. In a letter seen by Village Voice News, the commissioners rejected calls for their resignation, stating they see no reason to discuss their status. They did, however, agree to meet the Opposition Leader or representatives on other GECOM matters, suggesting the meeting take place at a neutral, mutually agreed venue. They emphasised that their status can only be changed through legislative or judicial intervention.
Meanwhile, last November, Alexander and Trotman had called on GECOM Chairperson retired Justice Claudette Singh to resign, accusing her of unilaterally dissolving the six-member Commission without consultation. They claim the move was intended to shield the Chair from scrutiny over alleged election irregularities, including the disenfranchisement of certain workers and her failure to present official election results to the Commission as required by law.
“The worst has since eventuated. The Chairperson has unilaterally de-commissioned the Commission. Avoiding accountability for the aforementioned infringements, she determined that the Commissioners who raised those concerns were no longer Commissioners and, therefore, the Commission was not duly constituted based on her interpretation of Article 163 of the Constitution. Albeit, in response to our enquiry, the gazetted results, though not publicly declared as required by law, were sent to us along with the notice of dismissal,” Alexander and Trotman said in a statement.
The commissioners argue that Singh exceeded her authority and that the Commission’s report on the 2025 elections should still be handled by the current members. They also criticized her approval of payments, including large CEO bonuses, despite claiming the Commission was not properly constituted. Singh has reportedly suggested that the new parliamentary makeup allows the incoming Opposition Leader to nominate new Commissioners. The Leader of the Opposition was elected January 26, 2026, months after the September 2025 General and Regional Elections.
