Dear Editor,
Guyanese must confront an uncomfortable truth: the PPP/C government’s prolonged tolerance of a vacant Leader of the Opposition was not a bureaucratic lapse; it was a calculated, deliberate weakening of democratic oversight. This is governance by convenience, executed with full awareness of its constitutional implications, and it mirrors the authoritarian tactics of the Burnham era.
Under Forbes Burnham, democracy in Guyana did not collapse in a single moment. It eroded incrementally through sidelining Parliament, neutralising opposition voices, and exploiting legal ambiguities to entrench executive dominance. What we are witnessing today is a chilling echo of that logic: by allowing the office of Leader of the Opposition to remain effectively vacant for months, the PPP/C has weakened scrutiny, delayed appointments to key constitutional bodies, and concentrated power in the executive. This is not accidental, it is strategy.
The Attorney General, charged with upholding the Constitution, is directly culpable. Silence in the face of a clear constitutional void is not prudence, it is complicity. It mirrors Burnham-era legal officers who defended executive overreach instead of protecting democratic institutions. The law is not a tool for convenience; it is a safeguard. The Attorney General’s selective inaction demonstrates a troubling preference for partisan advantage over the rule of law.
Speaker Manzoor Nadir’s conduct compounds the problem. The Speaker is meant to defend the independence and proper functioning of Parliament. Delayed intervention until public pressure became unavoidable signals not neutrality, but acquiescence. It replicates historical patterns where parliamentary authority asserted itself only after damage was done, allowing executive dominance to flourish unchecked.
This is governance without accountability, law without principle, and oversight without substance. It is the slow erosion of democracy under the guise of legality, exactly the tactic that Burnham perfected, now repeated under a democratic veneer. Belated announcements and procedural correctness cannot repair the damage caused by months of neglect.
Guyanese cannot afford complacency. Citizens, civil society, and the media must demand more than symbolic remedies. The Constitution requires proactive protection of its institutions. The PPP/C must be held accountable for deliberately weakening opposition, the Attorney General for failing to uphold the law, and the Speaker for allowing Parliament to be sidelined. Failure to confront this now risks repeating the most dangerous lessons of our history: that democracy can be hollowed quietly, gradually, and with devastating effect.
This is a call to vigilance. Democracy is strengthened by courage, oversight, and constitutional fidelity, not by convenience, delay, or political calculation. The current episode is a stark warning: Guyana’s institutions are only as strong as the citizens and officials willing to defend them.