Established math formula determines membership of parliamentary committees, as FGM’s Walton-Desir cries “hypocrisy”

Last Updated on Thursday, 18 June 2026, 18:57 by Denis Chabrol

The decades-old mathematical formula that was used to determine the number of members on Guyana’s parliamentary standing and sectoral committees was provided to the government and opposition chief whips earlier this year, Clerk of the National Assembly Sherlock Isaacs

“In applying this longstanding principle, committee membership is allocated proportionately according to the strength of each party in the National Assembly,” he said in a statement.

He also told Demerara Waves Online News that the system of electing committee members differs from that of electing a Speaker and Deputy Speaker regardless of which party they come from. Mr Isaacs reminded that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are elected on the floor of a full sitting of the 65-seat National Assembly.

Amid concerns raised by leader of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), Amanza Walton-Desir that the “vote-count eligibility formula” and the “selective invocation of a mathematical formula” by Government Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira and House Speaker National Assembly saw her being declared ineligible to sit on any of the committees, the Clerk of the National Assembly also late Thursday released that formula and the results showing that the FGM could not have been a member of those committee.

“The method currently employed is not new. It has been used for decades and is designed to ensure that the composition of Parliamentary Committees reflects, as closely as possible, the balance of political representation in the National Assembly. The allocation of committee seats is therefore based on the number of seats held by each political party in Parliament,” he said. Mr Isaacs said the formula is backed by two of the Standing Orders- the parliamentary rules: Standing Order 94(1): “Every Select Committee shall be so constituted as to ensure, as far as possible, that the balance of parties in the Assembly is reflected in the Committee” and Standing Order 94(2): Unless otherwise provided in the Standing Orders or by Resolution of the Assembly, the Committee of Selection may determine the size of each committee.”

Ms Walton-Desir, the lone FGM parliamentarian with 1.54% of the seats in the National Assembly, in a statement Tuesday night defended her concerns by Ms Teixeira and Mr Nadir to “refuse my nomination” by We Invest in Nationhood and A Partnership for National Unity. “This is not about my own political fortunes; it’s about ensuring that the people of Guyana understand precisely what was done in their name and why it matters.
she said.

She said their decision was inconsistent, explaining that in 2020,  Ms Teixeira nominated Lennox Shuman to the office of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. She said Mr. Shuman represented a coalition whose Liberty and Justice Party component received 2,657 votes. “The PPP/C Government used its parliamentary majority to secure his election, with no thought given to vote count,” she added. Similarly, in 2023, she said Ms Teixeira nominated Dr. Asha Kissoon to that same office. Dr. Kissoon represented The New Movement, a party that received only 244 votes in the 2020 General Election. Again, the PPP/C Government used its majority to secure her election, disregarding vote count entirely.

In contrast, Ms Walton-Desir said FGM received 4,585 votes in the September 2025 General Election, “yet the same Government, and the same individual within that Government, now invokes a vote-count formula to prevent me from serving on a committee. The hypocrisy is glaring.”

Meanwhile, the FGM Leader, a lawyer and former Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister,  said she had spoken with Ms Primus  and offered  to support her and the work of the Foreign Relations Sectoral Committee and any other committee where her expertise might be of assistance.

“The work continues, and it will continue in spite of PPP’s attempts to control the opposition through obstruction, misdirection and disinformation via social media and its abuse of public information channels,” she said.