Attorney General defends Guyana GCB endorsement of President Ali

Attorney General Anil Nandlall on Wednesday came out in swinging support for the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) against the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)-led A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) condemnation of the game’s national regulator’s endorsement of President Irfaan Ali for a second term.

“The members of the Guyana Cricket Board have chosen to exercise this fundamental right and freedom. For this, they are condemned.

APNU has once again demonstrated that it belongs to a bygone era; that it has no place in a modern Guyana,” said Mr Nandlall, also an executive member of the incumbent People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

Reacting to APNU’s denunciation of the endorsement on grounds of possibly flouting the rules of the International Cricket Council and Cricket West Indies, the Attorney General charged that APNU is “allergic to democracy”. “They are thoroughbred authoritarians. They are full blooded political dictators. It comes to them naturally and instinctively,” he added.

He said the Constitution of Guyana guarantees to every person the freedom to associate with, to belong to, and to support any political party of their choice. It is the quintessence of democracy.

But APNU earlier Wednesday said such an endorsement of Dr Ali and the PPP-Civic for re-election in the September 1 general and regional elections calls into question the fairness and impartiality of the Board as regards the question of selection, financial administration, and its alignment with international cricket norms.

In an address to the Berbice Cricket Board’s Awards Ceremony on June 28, 2025, the GCB President, Bissoondyal Singh lauded President as a “great human being”, for being the “greatest contributor” to cricket and Guyana’s “transformation and modernisation” over the past five years before explicitly endorsing him for a second term.

“It is with absolute conviction and unwavering confidence that I, as President of the Guyana Cricket Board – and I speak on behalf of the entire membership of the GCB – do hereby publicly and wholeheartedly endorse the leadership and the Presidency of Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali and that of the People’s Progressive Party Civic,” he said.

The excerpt from the pro-government Newsroom was reposted on the GCB’s Facebook page.

The GCB was due to issue a statement later Wednesday after discussing APNU’s statement.