Speaker blasts MPs over alleged committee ‘set up’

Jun 21, 2026 News

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…as Mahipaul defends seat allocation formula

(Kaieteur News) – Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir has criticised opposition parliamentarians, claiming that a recent controversy regarding parliamentary committee allocations was an engineered “set up” designed to spark a media storm over nothing.

While all parties, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), and the government, successfully placed members on the various committees, a point of contention arose regarding Amanza Walton, leader of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM).

Both WIN and APNU attempted to nominate Walton to some of the committees, but the Chairperson of the Committee of Selection, Manzoor Nadir refused the nomination. Nadir explained that based on the official formula used to calculate eligibility, Walton did not receive the necessary number of votes to qualify for nomination to any of the bodies.

Following the Chairperson of the Committee of Selection’s ruling the opposition MPs raised concerns. However, Nadir told reporters on Friday that “a particular Member of Parliament was set up by colleagues” while noting that WIN’s Tabitha Sarabo Halley had openly admitted that the opposition already knew the composition of the committees.

Nadir questioned why lawmakers would proceed to break the parliamentary rules knowing how the seats were distributed.

“That particular MP, I believe, was set up. People set up this situation because MP Halley had said they knew the composition of committees. They knew. So if you knew what the composition of committees are, why are you going to go and break the rule? It has to be a set up so that they can find a media storm over nothing. And so I was so disappointed in those MPs. But we have also rules in the House for dealing with MPs who deliberately mislead, criticise the lawful rulings of the Speaker,” he said.

Warning of potential disciplinary actions, Speaker Nadir reminded lawmakers that the House maintains strict rules for dealing with Members of Parliament who deliberately mislead the public or criticise the lawful rulings of the Speaker.

He indicated that the upcoming sitting of Parliament would reveal how these infractions will be handled, emphasising that the parliamentary leadership must nip such behaviour in the bud to preserve the decorum expected of honourable members.

“And so, let’s see what the next sitting of Parliament will bring. Because, in my view, if we don’t start nipping these untruths by members of Parliament, and they’re supposed to be, when they’re in the House, honourable members,”.

Drawing on his own political career spanning over 30 years, Nadir advised younger politicians that remaining in public service requires strong principles and personal honesty, asserting that true political integrity must start with being honest with oneself.

“I want to advise politicians, if you want people to take you seriously if you want to stick around as long as I have been, and this is counting over 30 odd years, you know, you have to get some principles. More particularly, you got to be honest, and honesty starts with yourself,” he cautioned.

Meanwhile, APNU’s Member of Parliament, Ganesh Mahipaul previously defended the formula position by re-sharing a detailed breakdown he originally provided twenty weeks, or approximately five months ago regarding how parliamentary committee seats are legally allocated.

Mahipaul explained that under Standing Order 94(1), the formula is entirely straightforward and mathematical. To find a party’s entitlement, its total seats in the National Assembly are divided by the 65 elected seats in the House to determine its percentage strength, which is then applied directly to the size of the specific committee.

Based on the current composition of the National Assembly, Mahipaul detailed the exact percentage strength of each political party represented in the House. According to his calculations, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) holds 36 seats representing 55.38 percent, WIN holds 16 seats representing 24.62 percent, APNU holds 12 seats representing 18.46 percent, and the FGM holds a single seat representing 1.54 percent of the total assembly.

Mahipaul then applied Standing Order 94(1) to demonstrate how these percentages dictate the composition of 10-member, 9-member, and 7-member committees. For a 10-member committee, the math yields 5.538 seats for the PPP/C, 2.462 seats for WIN, 1.846 seats for APNU, and 0.154 seats for FGM, which rounds out to a final composition of 6 seats for the PPP/C, 2 seats for WIN, and 2 seats for APNU. For a 9-member committee, the calculation allocates 4.984 seats to the PPP/C, 2.216 seats to WIN, 1.661 seats to APNU, and 0.139 seats to FGM, translating to a balance of 5 seats for the PPP/C, 2 seats for WIN, and 2 seats for APNU. Finally, for a 7-member committee, the formula distributes 3.877 seats to the PPP/C, 1.723 seats to WIN, 1.292 seats to APNU, and 0.108 seats to FGM, resulting in a strict composition of 4 seats for the PPP/C, 2 seats for WIN, and a single seat for APNU, with FGM receiving zero seats across all three committee sizes.

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• Manzoor Nadir, opposition parliamentarians, Parliamentary Committee, We Invest in Nationhood

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