Guyana’s democratic test is not about comfort, it’s about confidence

Jan 26, 2026 Letters

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Dear Editor,

On Monday, our Parliament will address two significant matters, firstly, the presentation of the national budget and secondly, the election of a new Leader of the Opposition.

While the budget will shape economic priorities and hopefully bring additional and more tangible results for the people such as increased public servants wages and salaries, the latter decision has attracted disproportionate attention. Yet beneath the controversy lies a clearer political reality, one that speaks less to instability and more to the confidence of Guyana’s democratic institutions.

The likely election of Mr. Azruddin Mohamed as Leader of the Opposition has generated debate because of his personal legal circumstances locally and abroad and the broader implications for Guyana’s international image. Such concerns are not without basis. However, democracy is not designed to yield only comfortable or convenient outcomes. It is designed to follow rules especially when those outcomes provoke discomfort.

Guyana’s Constitution is unambiguous. The Leader of the Opposition is determined by parliamentary arithmetic arising from free and lawful elections. Voters chose the composition of the National Assembly, and that choice however contested cannot be overridden by local or external pressure nor subjective judgments without weakening democratic legitimacy.

What is often overlooked in this discussion is the extreme imbalance of political power within the current Parliament. The fact is Mr. Mohamed would assume leadership over what is arguably the weakest and least experienced opposition cohort in Guyana’s modern parliamentary history. With the exception of a small number of former PNCR/AFC parliamentarians who make up the opposition and a few who now aligned with the WIN party, most of the opposition MPs possess minimal political or legislative experience. Institutional memory is thin, parliamentary skill uneven, and strategic cohesion largely untested.

Numerically, the challenge is even starker.

Mr. Mohamed would preside over the smallest opposition bloc ever to produce a Leader of the Opposition. In a legislature where numbers determine committee influence, procedural leverage, and legislative outcomes, this opposition lacks the capacity to meaningfully constrain executive authority. In practical terms, it poses no serious threat to governance.

This stands in sharp contrast to the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPPC), which commands an overwhelming majority and benefits from deep institutional knowledge and experience. That dominance is reinforced by the national popularity of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, whose administration has overseen visible transformation across every region of the country. Major investments in infrastructure, housing, healthcare, education, agriculture, energy and more, all of which have tangibly reshaped communities and citizens’ lives and strengthened public confidence in the executive, numbers don’t lie.

Beyond policy delivery, President Ali’s leadership style has further consolidated authority. His accessibility, pragmatic engagement, his down to earth, hands-on and grounded public presence have resonated positively across traditional and non-traditional political constituencies alike. The result is an administration that governs from a position of strength, electorally secure, politically confident, and institutionally dominant.

Against this backdrop, fears that the elevation of Mr. Mohamed represents a destabilising moment are overstated. Even under ideal circumstances, leading an opposition against a popular, well-resourced, and experienced government is a formidable challenge. Under the present conditions, novice leadership, an inexperienced parliamentary team, and minimal numerical leverage, the role is largely symbolic. The opposition may scrutinise, but it cannot seriously disrupt. I might be wrong but time will determine.

Critics argue that Mr. Mohamed’s political emergence may be driven by self-interest. That may or may not be true. But democratic systems are not designed to adjudicate motive; they are designed to regulate conduct through law and institutions. The absent a domestic judicial ruling or constitutional disqualification, allegations and foreign sanctions cannot replace due process without undermining sovereignty.

Internationally, Guyana’s decision will be observed closely. The country’s growing strategic importance ensures that symbolism matters. But yielding constitutional procedure to local or external discomfort would signal fragility, not responsibility. Mature democracies are defined not by the absence of controversy, but by their adherence to rules when controversy arises. Hence, I welcome the election of the Opposition leader.

It is also worth remembering that the Leader of the Opposition does not wield executive power. The office exists to question, critique, hold the government accountable and represent dissent not to govern. The executive remains firmly in control of policy direction and national development.

Ultimately, Guyana is not being asked to endorse a person; it is being asked to respect a process. This moment does not expose executive vulnerability, it underscores executive strength. The government governs from a position of dominance and legitimacy, while the opposition remains constitutionally necessary but politically constrained.

That is not democratic failure. It is democratic confidence, so let the opposition leader be elected.

Yours respectfully, 

Jermaine Figueira

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• Azruddin Mohamed, democratic, Jermaine Figueira, Letters, National Budget

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