FGM petitions National Assembly over no parliamentary sittings

Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, 18:22 by Denis Chabrol

The small opposition Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) on Tuesday petitioned the National Assembly to meet regularly and establish the standing and sectoral committees, especially now that the country needs to manage its oil wealth.

FGM Leader, Amanza Walton submitted a petition containing 100 signatures of persons ,who added their voice to the call, to Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs.

The petition was delivered one day after that party’s leader formally called on the international community to intervene in pressuring government to call sittings of the House, the last one having been held 95 days ago.

FGM and its backers want the National Assembly to meet at regular and predictable intervals, sufficient to enable the effective and continuous discharge of its constitutional functions. That party issued the petition ‘in a context of significant national revenues and evolving public policy challenges, the need for robust parliamentary oversight, transparency, and accountability is heightened.”

Further, that political party, which has one parliamentary seat, wants the National Assembly to establish and publish a structured parliamentary calendar to promote transparency, accountability, and public confidence in the parliamentary process;

The petition also calls on the National Assembly to ensure the timely constitution and effective functioning of its standing and sectoral committees, in order to strengthen its oversight and scrutiny of public affairs;

The FGM also said  the ability of the National Assembly to respond to urgent and evolving national issues depends on sittings being held with sufficient frequency to allow for timely questioning, scrutiny, and debate;

These functions, the FGM petition states, require that the National Assembly meet with sufficient regularity and predictability to enable the orderly conduct of public business and the continuous discharge of its responsibilities.

Saying that transparency and predictability in the sittings of the National Assembly are essential to public confidence, accountability, and the ability of citizens and stakeholders to follow, understand, and engage meaningfully with the parliamentary, the petitioners believe that in the absence of a structured and publicly known parliamentary calendar, the sittings of the National Assembly may appear irregular and unpredictable, and so limit transparency, reducing public awareness, and weakening opportunities for citizen engagement in national decision-making;

Turning their attention to the oversight function of the National Assembly through its system of standing and sectoral committees, which provide detailed examination of governmental policies, administration, and expenditure; the petitioners say the timely constitution and operation of such committees are integral to the Assembly’s ability to perform its oversight and scrutiny functions effectively.

“The work of these committees serves as an important avenue through which issues affecting the daily lives of citizens-including public services, economic conditions, and social development-are examined in detail and brought to the attention of the public,” states the document.

The FGM says any delay in the establishment or functioning of these committees diminishes the institutional capacity of the National Assembly to discharge its
constitutional responsibilities in full.

The FGM Leader on Monday dispatched formal correspondence to the leadership of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Organisation of American States (OAS), and ParlAmericas expressing concern about the adverse impact of the prolonged absence of parliamentary sittings. FGM says it has as also brought these developments to the attention of members of the diplomatic community, including representatives of the ABCEU countries.

The correspondence sent by FGM also raises concern regarding what it describes as a broader pattern of democratic erosion, including restrictions on media access to Parliament, the suppression of parliamentary speech, and the continued failure to constitute key parliamentary oversight committees, including the Sectoral Committees and the Public Accounts Committee, more than six months after Parliament reconvened following the 2025 General and Regional Elections.

“The various organizations were asked to consider interventions consistent with their respective mandates and the democratic principles and agreements to which Guyana has voluntarily subscribed as a member of the international community.

Among the measures requested were public reaffirmations of the importance of regular parliamentary sittings, calls for the immediate reconvening of Parliament, monitoring of democratic governance standards, and engagement on issues relating to parliamentary oversight, media freedom, democratic accountability, and the protection of opposition representation,” FGM said.

FGM emphasised that these appeals are not invitations for interference in Guyana’s sovereign affairs, but rather requests for regional and international democratic institutions to uphold and reaffirm the parliamentary and democratic standards to which Guyana has voluntarily committed itself as a member of the international community and under the various regional and international agreements to which it is a state party.

FGM noted that the responsibility for protecting democracy in Guyana ultimately rests with the people of Guyana themselves and their constitutional institutions. However, as a member of the international community and a state party to numerous democratic agreements and frameworks, that party says Guyana’s democratic trajectory is also a matter of legitimate regional and international concern.

“A Parliament that does not sit cannot effectively scrutinize public spending, represent the people, or hold power accountable. At a time of unprecedented oil wealth, democratic oversight in Guyana should be expanding, not disappearing,” Ms Walton was quoted as saying.