Reconstituting teaching commission without opposition backing unconstitutional – WIN

Last Updated on Thursday, 1 January 2026, 11:54 by Writer

The We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) has dubbed the appointment and swearing-in of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) as unconstitutional because President Irfaan Ali named three of the seven members in the absence of consulting with the main opposition leader.

“We therefore state unequivocally that appointments to the Teaching Service Commission made without meaningful consultation with a duly elected Leader of the Opposition lack constitutional legitimacy,” WIN said in a statement.

The Constitution stipulates that the government’s election of three TSC members must be done in consultation with the Opposition Leader.

WIN, which won 16 seats at the September 1 general and regional elections to become Guyana’s main opposition party, is yet to have its leader, Azruddin Mohamed, elected as Guyana’s Opposition Leader because Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir has so far failed to call a meeting of opposition members of parliament for that election to take place.

Mr Mohamed is yet to make good on his promise to file court action against Mr Nadir for failing to convene the meeting to elect the opposition leader as required by the Constitution.

The High Court had last July ruled that President Ali’s appointment of Mr Clifton Hicken as Police Commissioner was constitutional out of necessity although there was no opposition leader.

At that time, the People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) was yet to resolve its internal matters to make way for new PNCR Leader Aubrey Norton to replace Mr Joseph Harmon as Opposition Leader.

Shortly after administering the oaths to the seven TSC members, Dr Ali defended his decision for doing so without an opposition leader, saying that it was important for the management of the teaching profession.

He promised to abide by the Constitution once there is an opposition leader.

But WIN contended that a conspiracy had been engineered to block Mr Mohamed from being elected the Opposition Leader.

That party noted that for an extended period, it had consistently called for the election of a Leader of the Opposition in keeping with parliamentary procedure.

“These calls have been frustrated by the continued refusal of the National Assembly of Guyana, acting under the authority of the Speaker of the National Assembly, to convene a meeting for that purpose. The resulting absence of a Leader of the Opposition is therefore not incidental. It is the product of deliberate inaction and cannot be used to justify the circumvention of express constitutional obligations,” WIN added.

Mr Mohamed and his father, Nazar “Shell” Mohamed, both wealthy gold traders, are fighting extradition to the United States (US) to face trial on an 11-count grand jury indictment for alleged wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.

The indictment alleges that the duo, already sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), allegedly cheated the Guyana government of taxes linked to their gold exports and, in particular, the younger Mohamed, taxes on his Lamborghini luxury car that he imported from the US.

Calling on educators, civil society, trade unions, the legal community, and international partners to “speak out in defence of constitutional governance and democratic norms”, WIN said reconstituting the TSC through a process that itself lacks constitutional legitimacy does not remedy irregularities in the appointment of teachers such as no further promotions or vacancy announcements since 2023.

“Instead, it risks entrenching a system in which executive discretion supplants lawful institutional authority and constitutional compliance becomes a matter of convenience rather than principle. Independent commissions exist precisely to prevent such concentration of power and to shield key public services from political interference,” the party said.