WIN prepared to head to court to secure opposition seats on GECOM

Oct 24, 2025 News

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– says already identified candidates

(Kaieteur News) – Leader of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party Azruddin Mohamed, said his party is prepared to take legal action to secure the opposition seats on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Mohamed’s comments come amidst rising tension between Chairperson of GECOM, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh and opposition commissioners over which opposition party holds the right to secure seats on the commission.

Justice Singh had taken a decision to pause all election-related meetings until the new parliament is convened and the opposition benches are formally constituted.  The GECOM Chair took the decision on the basis that she anticipates changes in the opposition’s representatives on the commission, given that the Azruddin Mohamed-led We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) has replaced the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) as the new main opposition.

She said the constitution provides for this transition. However, the position has sparked pushback from APNU Commissioner Vincent Alexander, who has questioned Singh’s interpretation.

In wake of an announcement by President Irfaan Ali on Thursday that the 13^th Parliament will convene on November 3, 2025, Mohamed told Kaieteur News that his party will closely examine what course of action it will take to deal with the situation.

“We have three persons already to replace those [APNU representatives]. [But] we know that legally this will likely be a court matter because I don’t think these guys would want to remove based on the statements they are making.

The WIN leader said he will decide how to deal with the matter after parliament is convened.

He said: “I don’t want to speak further on this matter until after we attend parliament and decide the way forward.”

Weighing in during his weekly programme, ‘Issues in the News,’ Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC on Tuesday night said that the opposition can choose to trash out the matter or let the court decide.

“…Those who are aggrieved obviously must know that they have recourse to the court because it’s a legal issue and they can have the matter ventilated there.”

Nandlall refrained from expressing his views on the matter noting that as attorney general he will be required to be a party to the case, once it reaches the court. “My views will be expressed at that forum…. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to be dragged in an opposition dispute or comment on the independent exercise of GECOM’s prerogative on a matter that concerns GECOM.”

Nandlall continued “I have my views obviously but GECOM is an autonomous body and the chairperson has taken a position…This obviously is a legal issue involving the opposition and they have to resolve it…It is obviously a constitutional controversy and if it reaches the court in any event, I will have to be a party because all constitutional matters require the attorney general to be named as a respondent so I would not be speaking on this matter.”

Leader of the new opposition party, Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), Amanza Walton-Desir also added her voice to the issue. In a statement to the press Walton-Desir pointed out that the current impasse at GECOM is not primarily about personalities. She asserted that “The real problem is that the Commission is politicised, and structured in a way that entrenches the two-party system.”  “It was never designed to function as an impartial, professional institution serving all Guyanese. Guyana is no longer a two-party society, as the presence of three opposition parties in Parliament shows. Yet GECOM’s current design locks the system into old divides, undermining the fairness, credibility, and independence that every election demand,” Walton-Desir continued.

As such, the politician noted that there must be a complete transformation of the Guyana Elections Commission into a professional, independent, and politically neutral body. She emphasised that “The administration of elections must not depend on the whims of politicians or the arithmetic of parliamentary seats. It should be entrusted to a commission of qualified professionals chosen for integrity, competence, and commitment to public service and to Guyana, not loyalty to any leader or party.”

“We have seen this model succeed elsewhere in the Caribbean. Jamaica’s electoral Commission of Jamaica for instance, is considered the regional gold standard. It is a system that has earned the trust of citizens and the respect of the international community. Guyana deserves the same, we can have nice things too, but we the Guyanese people must insist,” the   lawyer said

She stressed therefore that “The next parliament must prioritise constitutional reform to establish a genuinely independent GECOM, one insulated from party politics, operating transparently, and accountable only to the people of Guyana,” she said.

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• Azruddin Mohamed, Claudette Singh, GECOM, Guyana Elections Commission, We Invest in Nationhood

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