US Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot has stated that while Azruddin Mohamed’s legal battle with the US “complicates things,” a functioning democracy and the election of an Opposition Leader in the Parliament of Guyana are more important.

Azruddin Mohamed, who is the Leader of the We Invest in Nationhood party, is the presumptive Leader of the Opposition, as his party holds the majority of seats on the Opposition side of the National Assembly.

However, Mohamed, who was sanctioned by the US in 2024 is currently fighting an extradition request by the US to face an 11-count indictment related to allegations of mail and wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. His father is also fighting an extradition request in relation to the same allegations.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the US Ambassador said regardless of the legal challenges facing Azruddin Mohamed, the will of the people of Guyana must be respected, and the country must move ahead with the election of the Opposition Leader. 

“It complicates matters. It is not the easiest thing in the world to deal with but what is most important is that your democracy functions and I think in order for parliament to do that, and to represent the will of the people, who elected this person or who chose this person to have a significant number of seats or chose his party, that they need to move forward with the election,” Ambassador Theriot told reporters.

She said Mohamed’s election to Parliament does not impact the United States legally.

“It doesn’t impact us in terms of legally but if he is involved in certain aspects of government that we have to deal with, if it involves anything financial or contractual then that might be a slight problem for us but then we would just have to ask for someone else to work on that issue. So, for us, we can work around it, it complicates matter but we could work around it,” she explained.

Ambassador Theriot said it was “incredibly important” for there to be a functioning parliament in any democracy, and for that to happen, there needs to be an Opposition Leader.

The United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union have also issued a call for the elections to be held for a Leader of the Opposition.

The 13^th Parliament was convened in early November, and although all members were present, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir opted not to call a meeting of all Opposition Members to allow for the election of an Opposition Leader to take place.

Since then, he has offered no reason for his refusal call the meeting for the election.

Related posts:

WIN welcomes call by Western Diplomats for election of Opposition Leader to be held without further delay Attorney General says electing Mohamed as Opposition Leader would stain Guyana’s Parliament Mohamed accuses Speaker of colluding with Government to delay election of Opposition Leader WIN pickets Parliament over Speaker’s failure to schedule Opposition Leader election meeting