Georgetown, Guyana.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – to all media
December 4, 2025

PRESS RELEASE

The Constitution Is Not To Be Trifled With – Speaker must Convene Meeting of the Opposition Members of Parliament.

The Guyana Constitution is the highest form of law in Guyana. The provisions of the Constitution, here, as is elsewhere, are expected to be given reverential treatment and respect. The provisions of our Constitution are regarded as sacrosanct and are not to be trifled with, ignored, or whimsically reinterpreted. In fact, with almost sixty years of independence and constitutional governance, somethings should be easier to accept, understand and implement. However, this seems not to be the case with respect to the simple task of convening a meeting of the elected Members of Parliament who are in the opposition benches.

Article184 is pellucid in that it clearly states that the Speaker of the National Assembly shall convene a meeting of the Opposition members so that that they may elect one of their own as Leader of the Opposition. The role of the Speaker is, at best, perfunctory. He has only to convene the meeting and not get involved or embroiled any further. While no specific time is prescribed in the constitution, the framers of Article 184, no doubt, must have expected this meeting to be held within a reasonable time of the convening of the Parliament, after the holding of general and regional elections. We are now well past the reasonable deadline for the holding of that meeting.

It is anyone’s guess who the members of the Opposition will nominate and vote on, but everyone expects that the successful nominee will be someone from the WIN party, as they command the majority of opposition seats. But this is really not of critical importance immediately. What is, is the the convening of the meeting for the members to get on with their business and allow the nation to return to some level of democratic normalcy.

The Alliance For Change joins in the demand for the meeting of the Opposition parliamentarians to be convened forthwith. [END]

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