Opposition unites against Nadir’s media lockout

Feb 03, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – Opposition parties on Monday closed ranks against Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir over his decision to revive COVID-era restrictions to limit media access to the ongoing budget debates.

The move has sparked widespread backlash from the Guyana Press Association and senior journalists, with growing calls for the Speaker to immediately lift the controversial measures. In a strongly worded statement, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) condemned what it described as a “severe restriction” on independent media access to parliamentary proceedings.

“This action, which limits journalists to a small quota, requires the surrender of personal identification documents for entry, and bars all but the Department of Public Information from filming inside the Chamber, represents a disturbing departure from democratic norms and long established parliamentary practice in Guyana.”

According to APNU the National Assembly is the people’s house. “It belongs not to any government or officeholder but to the citizens of Guyana. The media, as a constitutional pillar in any democracy, plays a vital role in ensuring transparency, accountability, and the free flow of information. To curtail that role is to curtail the people’s right to know,” APNU said.

According to the party, what has transpired cannot be explained as simple administrative adjustment or space management. “It is a clear act of censorship by exclusion. The forced reliance on state-controlled DPI footage, with no live feed provided to independent newsroom teams, and the severe limitation on journalistic presence undermine the principles of openness and fairness that should guide every sitting of the National Assembly.”

“APNU strongly asserts that freedom of the press is non-negotiable. Any attempt to restrict media access or to monopolize the narrative emerging from the National Assembly threatens the very fabric of democratic life in Guyana. No Speaker of the House should preside over measures that weaken transparency or shield parliamentary proceedings from independent scrutiny.

APNU, therefore, calls on the Speaker to immediately rescind these measures and to restore full and unfettered access for all accredited media houses. We further urge civil society, the Guyana Press Association, and all parliamentary actors, Government and Opposition alike, to defend the constitutional protections that guarantee freedom of expression and access to information.”

According to APNU Guyana cannot move forward by moving backwards. APNU remains committed to safeguarding democratic institutions and will continue to advocate firmly against any action that endangers press freedom, public accountability, or the rights of citizens to be informed.

Meanwhile, the Forward Guyana Movement said it also noted with grave concern the decision by the Speaker to severely restrict media access to the Budget Debates of the 13th Parliament. “The measures imposed, limiting access to only five journalists at any given time, requiring the surrender of National ID cards or driver’s licences, and prohibiting independent media cameras while forcing reliance solely on footage produced by the state-controlled Department of Public Information, constitute a serious assault on press freedom, transparency, and the public’s right to information. Parliament is not the property of the Speaker, the Government, or the state media. It belongs to the people of Guyana,” FGM led by MKP, Amanza Walton-Desir said.

“The media are not guests to be managed at convenience. The Fourth Estate is an essential democratic safeguard and a cornerstone of accountability. The attempt to justify these restrictions by reference to a limited, time-bound COVID-19 arrangement from 2020 is disingenuous and indefensible. To invoke emergency public health measures six years later, while going even further than those restrictions, reflects either a disregard for the intelligence of the public or a willingness to distort the record to justify authoritarian conduct. When a government restricts independent observation by the media, monopolises official narratives, and conditions access to public institutions on the surrender of personal identification, they cross a line.”

The FGM said that line separates democratic governance from political control. History is unequivocal on this point. When lawful channels of scrutiny, accountability, and expression are closed, public frustration does not dissipate when it accumulates. “When citizens are denied transparency, they do not become passive. When institutions silence oversight, they invite resistance rather than respect. Guyana is now a petroleum-producing state under heightened international observation. Decisions taken within our Parliament today are neither isolated nor invisible. They are observed, assessed, and remembered. I therefore call on the Government of Guyana to immediately correct this decision and publicly distance itself from these actions. I also call on the diplomatic community, international partners, and democracy monitoring institutions to take note of this disturbing regression. No democracy can claim legitimacy while silencing the media. We cannot claim to be moving forward while deliberately walking backward into repression. Parliament must be open. The media must be free. The Speaker must be reminded that his office exists to uphold democratic norms, not to erode them.”

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• APNU, lockout, media, Nadir, National Assembly

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