With the process to elect a Leader of the Opposition set for this Monday, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which holds 12 seats in the Parliamentary opposition, says it will not be nominating a candidate for the position.
“The APNU has no intention of putting up a candidate for the position of Leader of the Opposition, and it would be futile for Forward Guyana [Movement] (FGM) to do so. There will be one nominee for Leader of the Opposition, and it is our expectation that that person will be declared leader. There would be no need for [another candidate],” APNU’s Lead Parliamentarian Terrence Campbell indicated during the party’s press conference on Friday.
Currently, the Parliamentary Opposition comprises 12 Members of Parliament (MPs) from APNU, one from FGM and 16 from the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, which is led by United States (US)-indicted and sanctioned Azruddin Mohamed.
On Monday, all the opposition Parliamentarians will nominate and vote for a candidate to be elected to the post of Leader of the Opposition. Since WIN holds the 29-member Parliamentary Opposition, Mohamed is being touted as the presumptive Opposition Leader.
Against this backdrop, Campbell argued that fielding a candidate from any other opposition party would be futile. He made these remarks after being asked about alleged attempts to get WIN Parliamentarians to vote against Mohamed for his appointment. “WIN has clearly said that there would be one candidate for Leader of the Opposition coming from WIN – Mr Azruddin Mohamed. It is our expectation that Mr Azruddin Mohamed will be elected the Leader of the Opposition… Even if some of WIN’s MPs were to vote for, let’s say, [Amanza] Walton-Desir of the Forward Guyana Movement to be Leader of the Opposition and they were successful in that, it would be a pyrrhic victory. It would be short-lived because WIN would remove those Parliamentarians, call a vote of no confidence on the Leader of the Opposition and replace the Leader of the Opposition,” Campbell contended.
The situation can change before Monday
Similar sentiments were expressed by APNU’s Chief Whip, Ganesh Mahipaul, who pointed out that as the Representative of WIN’s List of Candidates, from which MPs are extracted, Mohamed can remove any of his Parliamentarians.
“At the end of the day, the Recall Legislation is in play, and once one-third of the Opposition MPs…which is 10 members, express no confidence [for a specific nominee], the process goes [on] over and over. So, I believe, and my colleagues would agree with me, that this issue is really making a mountain out of a molehill,” he asserted. In the same breath, however, Mahipaul cautioned that there is a possibility that the present situation can change before Monday’s vote for the new Opposition Leader, citing the unpredictable nature of politics.
On Tuesday evening, Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir announced via a video statement that a meeting will be held at 10:00h on Monday, January 26, to elect a Leader of the Opposition – a process which he had been accused of stalling since the convening of the 13th Parliament back in November 2025.
International fugitive
Hitting back at critics, Nadir explained that he has a responsibility to preserve the dignity of the National Assembly, noting that it is not a simple decision given the circumstances. “I have found myself in this difficult position to hold the election of the Leader of the Opposition when I know that the presumptive Leader of the Opposition to be elected, Azruddin Mohamed, is an international fugitive,” the Speaker posited. Mohamed and his father, Nazar, have been indicted by a grand jury in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on 11 criminal charges ranging from wire fraud and mail fraud to money laundering, primarily connected to the export of gold to the US by their company, Mohamed’s Enterprises.
The two men are currently facing extradition to the US to face these charges. As such, the House Speaker cautioned the Opposition MPs about the consequences to Guyana’s Parliamentary system should they go ahead and elect an international fugitive as the Opposition Leader. “If opposition members of Parliament feel it morally right to elect an international fugitive, then the stain on our Parliament and our country rests solely with them. This likelihood is unprecedented in our Westminster Parliamentary system…”
“I trust that those involved in this process of electing the Leader of the Opposition would be guided by the dignity of the House, the reputation of our country and the sanctity of the responsibility that has been entrusted upon them by the electorate,” Nadir had noted.
Meanwhile, Attorney General (AG) and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, echoed similar sentiments, arguing that if Mohamed becomes the Opposition Leader, then it would be an indictment on not just Guyana and its Parliament but the region as well. Even former Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR – the largest party in the APNU Coalition – Sherwayne Holder, has called on the Opposition Parliamentarians not to appoint the indicted businessman as the new Leader of the Opposition.
“My humble advice to the sitting MPs on the Opposition benches: it will be hypocritical of you to complain about corruption, drugs or money laundering if you choose to elect someone to lead you who has not successfully cleared their name of those very charges. Your credibility is now on the line,” Holder declared in a Facebook post on Tuesday evening.
Nevertheless, Monday’s election of the Leader of the Opposition will be done hours before the 2026 Budget is presented to the National Assembly by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh.
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