Diplomats meet House Speaker

Last Updated on Thursday, 22 January 2026, 22:06 by Writer

The majority of top foreign diplomats in Guyana met with Speaker of the House Manzoor Nadir at Parliament Building about next Monday’s sitting of the National Assembly.

“It was just an interesting, very informal meeting with the Speaker and he just talked a little bit about the upcoming session of Parliament, the budget and the upcoming election for the Leader of the Opposition,” United States (US) Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot willingly told reporters, even as her security officer attempted to block them several times.

Ms Theriot said the meeting was “prompted by one of the members of the diplomatic corps and he very kindly agreed to meet with us”.

In addition to American, British and Canadian envoys, the Ambassador of Venezuela and other countries attended the meeting at Parliament Building.

The US Ambassador opted not to say whether the House Speaker expresed concern about what was said by diplomats here.

He this week criticised the American and Canadian political systems in reaction to the US and Canadian envoys’ calls for an opposition leader to be elected to fulfill Guyana’s democratic system. “I don’t think it’s my place to say what he said. You’ll have to talk to him,” she said.

She shrugged off Mr Nadir’s comments about whether the US had an opposition leader. “I don’t feel like he targeted us. I think he simply expressed his opinion which he has a right to do,” she said.

Leader of the main opposition We Invest in Nationhood, Azruddin Mohamed, will almost certainly be elected Leader of the Opposition at the meeting of the 29 opposition members of parliament scheduled for Monday, the same day that the 2026 National Budget will be presented.

The Speaker and the ruling People’s Progressive Party are not in favour of Mr Mohamed becoming Opposition Leader because he has been sanctioned and indicted by the United States for alleged financial crimes.

Mr mohamed and his father are engaged in a legal battle against a US extradition request.