By KNEWS

Copyright kaieteurnewsonline

Get Parliament going, so that opposition gets going

Sep 29, 2025
Editorial, News

Kaieteur News – President Ali gave his inaugural address and has since named his cabinet of mostly old faces, with a sprinkling of new ones.

The PPPC Government is already on the move, with a concerned eye on that low voter turnout from this year’s election. One minister is strenuous in her statements that a long-delayed school in Region 10 will get done.

Another minister reportedly let off some steam at contractors, who are slow on meeting deadlines with school projects in Region Seven. All of this is moving along in a bustle of ministerial activity, but there is something that is missing, that can now be considered overdue, and not by a small margin.

Parliament should have been convened more than three weeks after the elections, more than two weeks since the government named its new team. It is time that the new Opposition parties in parliament show what they are made of, how much they will hold this government’s feet to the fire. This begins with a new Leader of the Opposition taking up his mantle in parliament.

An opposition leader can only be chosen when parliament opens its door to manage the business of Guyanese. The delay, which we at this paper believe is already too long, is hampering the Opposition from getting into gear.

It also keeps in suspense who the new Opposition leader will be. From the results of the September 1st elections, the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) leader, Azruddin Mohamed is the almost automatic choice for Opposition leader, since the other parties do not have the votes to challenge him. Because the PPPC Government’s leadership can be so tricky, it is not irrational to think that the delay in convening parliament could be intended to keep him cooling his heels, and let his frustrations build. It could be that the government’s tactic is to play with his mind, allow his anxieties to multiply.

Our position is different, and it is one backed by Guyanese voters. Parliament should be back in action at the earliest, or an announcement to that effect forthcoming, so that the Opposition could demonstrate to Guyanese what is different about it this time. The PNCR has a new parliamentary leader, and Guyanese should soon get to see what he represents.

It’s time that the new Leader of the Opposition issue is settled, and he steps up to represent Guyanese, and fulfill the promises he made on the campaign trail and afterwards. Now that the elections of 2025 are over, the matter of who is the new Opposition Leader should already have been finalised.

The WIN party and its leader are due the fullest and clearest space to operate in their new spots, because the numbers are in their favor. A surprise number of voters have spoken and that should be the end of the matter.

This means that WIN and Mohamed now has an obligation to do their best for those who gave them their trust and their hopes. There are some sensitive matters to be addressed, and in which the WIN leader should be allowed a meaningful say.

There is a disagreement stirring relative to opposition commissioners at GECOM. Next, there is the Constitutional Reform Commission, to which WIN should be able to nominate its own people. In addition to those, WIN has a mandate from the people to do all that is in its power to help the PPPC Government keep its promises made to citizens.

Like the WIN parliamentary team, the PNCR’s has its share of new faces, beginning with its leader, Terrence Campbell. The path before the two major Opposition groups is to work together for the benefit of Guyanese.

They shouldn’t get embroiled in battles over turf and title that weaken both, ties them up unnecessarily. Neither should forget, nor give short thrift, to the presence of the Forward Guyana Movement’s Amanza Walton-Desir.

It would be to their advantage to have her on their side. Last, but not least, all the Opposition parties must work diligently and honestly for a constructive relationship with the ruling PPPC Government. Azruddin Mohamed and Terrence Campbell and those in their respective groups, along with Walton-Desir, now have to deliver. Convene parliament now.

Azruddin Mohamed, Editorial, opposition, Parliament, PPPC Government