Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) Member of Parliament Amanza Walton-Desir says her exclusion from Parliament’s sectoral committees will not prevent her from carrying out the oversight role entrusted to her by voters, even as she questions the rationale used to block her nomination despite support from the two largest opposition parties.
In a statement on Wednesday, Walton-Desir said her nomination by We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) to serve on several parliamentary committees was rejected by the Committee of Selection, chaired by Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir.
The dispute comes as Parliament moves to constitute its sectoral committees, which are responsible for scrutinising government policies, expenditure and legislation. The committees are widely regarded as one of Parliament’s most important oversight mechanisms.
Following the 2025 General and Regional Elections, the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) secured 36 seats in the 65-member National Assembly. The Opposition controls 29 seats, with WIN holding 16 seats, APNU holding 12 seats and the Forward Guyana Movement one seat through Walton-Desir.
According to Walton-Desir, both WIN and APNU agreed that her participation on several committees would strengthen parliamentary oversight and nominated her accordingly.
“The recent decision by the Chairperson of the Committee of Selection and Speaker of the House, Manzoor Nadir, to refuse my nomination by the WIN and APNU parties to the parliamentary sectoral committees demands a response. This is not about my own political fortunes; it’s about ensuring that the people of Guyana understand precisely what was done in their name and why it matters,” she said.
She added: “Members of Parliament from both the WIN and APNU parties determined that my participation on those committees would serve the national interest and accordingly nominated me for several committees. I thank both parties for their confidence and support.”
Walton-Desir said Government Chief Whip Gail Teixeira and Speaker Nadir relied on a vote-count eligibility formula to reject the nomination.
“However, this nomination was rejected by Gail Teixeira and Speaker Manzoor Nadir based on a vote-count eligibility formula. This selective invocation of a mathematical formula ought to concern us as Guyanese,” she stated.
The FGM parliamentarian argued that the position taken by the Government is inconsistent with previous parliamentary appointments involving smaller parties.
She pointed to the 2020 election of former Deputy Speaker Lennox Shuman and the 2023 election of current Deputy Speaker Dr. Asha Kissoon. Walton-Desir noted that Shuman represented a coalition whose Liberty and Justice Party component received 2,657 votes at the 2020 elections, while Kissoon’s party, The New Movement, secured only 244 votes.
According to Walton-Desir, the PPP/C used its parliamentary majority in both instances to secure those appointments without applying a vote-count threshold.
“In contrast, the Forward Guyana Movement received 4,585 votes in the September 2025 General Election, yet the same Government, and the same individual within that Government, now invokes a vote-count formula to prevent me from serving on a committee. The hypocrisy is glaring,” she asserted.
The controversy has sparked wider debate about representation in Guyana’s parliamentary democracy.
Village Voice News in-house political scientist Randy Gopaul noted that Guyana’s electoral system is rooted in representative democracy, where citizens elect parties and representatives not merely to occupy seats in the National Assembly but to participate meaningfully in the legislative process, including committee work.
Gopaul said that across Commonwealth legislatures, smaller parties are often accommodated on committees even when they are not entitled to representation under a strict proportional formula.
“The rationale is simple: committees are where legislation is examined, minority voices should be heard, and parliamentary democracy is not solely about majority rule but also minority participation,” he explained.
According to Gopaul, the circumstances of Walton-Desir’s exclusion raise important questions because APNU and WIN were reportedly willing to surrender committee positions to accommodate the FGM parliamentarian.
“The question FGM could put to the Speaker is: If an elected parliamentary party with one seat cannot sit on any committee even when other parties are willing to give up seats to accommodate it, what mechanism exists for that party’s voters to be represented in committee proceedings?” Gopaul said.
He argued that the issue moves beyond mathematics and into the realm of democratic representation.
Gopaul further contended that if an elected party can be excluded from committee participation despite other opposition parties voluntarily making room for it, then the dispute becomes less about proportionality and more about whether parliamentary rules are being interpreted in an unnecessarily restrictive manner.
He said such an interpretation risks undermining the representative nature of Parliament by limiting the ability of voters who supported a duly elected party to have their voices reflected in committee proceedings, where much of Parliament’s detailed scrutiny of government actions takes place.
For her part, Walton-Desir maintained that her exclusion would not diminish her commitment to parliamentary oversight.
“I have spent the better part of the last few months demanding that Parliament meet and that these committees be constituted and convened because parliamentary oversight is a constitutional necessity not a personal privilege. Parliament must work. That position has not changed because of this exclusion,” she said.
She added that she has no intention of allowing the committee dispute to distract from her parliamentary responsibilities.
“For my part, I have no intention of becoming consumed by arguments over committee appointments. The people of Guyana sent me to Parliament to ask hard questions and insist on answers. That mandate does not depend on a committee assignment.”
Walton-Desir also condemned attacks directed at WIN Members of Parliament Odessa Primus and Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, saying such criticism undermines the broader responsibility of the parliamentary opposition.
“I am also deeply concerned by the attacks directed at Ms. Odessa Primus and Mrs. Tabitha Sarabo Halley and reject them outright. These attacks must stop. Regardless of party affiliation, the responsibility of the Opposition remains the same: to hold the Government accountable and defend the interests of the people,” she stated.
The FGM parliamentarian said she had since spoken with Primus and offered support for the work of the Foreign Relations Sectoral Committee and any other committee where her expertise could be of assistance.
“I have spoken with Ms Primus and I have offered to support her and the work of the Foreign Relations Sectoral Committee and any other committee where my expertise may be of assistance,” Walton-Desir said.
She concluded by accusing the Government of attempting to constrain the Opposition through procedural and political tactics.
“The work continues, and it will continue in spite of PPP’s attempts to control the opposition through obstruction, misdirection and disinformation via social media and its abuse of public information channels.”
The controversy is expected to fuel further debate over whether parliamentary committee appointments should be guided solely by numerical formulas or whether accommodation should be made to ensure that all elected parties are able to participate meaningfully in Parliament’s oversight functions.
