Chairman of the APNU and PNC Reform Leader, Aubrey Norton, has shut down a request by the Leader of the Opposition, Azruddin Mohamed for consultations to take place for new opposition nominees to be appointed to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

In a letter dated June 10, 2026, the Opposition Leader said there is an ever-increasing need for three new Commissioners of the Elections Commission to be appointed under Article 161 (3) (b) of the Constitution, as he underscored the need for the opposition-nominated Commissioners to receive the full confidence of the main parliamentary opposition – We Invest in Nationhood (WIN).

But in a brief interview with News Source, Mr. Norton said the seven member Guyana Elections Commission, remains fully constituted and there is nothing to consult on.

“We made it very clear that there is no need for any consultation because there is no vacancy on the Commission and it is a permanent Commission,” Norton said.

Norton said APNU’s position is grounded in the Constitution and the Laws of Guyana, and the Opposition Leader is expected to receive the Coalition’s official correspondence today, detailing its position.

The change in the political landscape following the 2025 Elections, which led to A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) being replaced by We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) as the country’s main opposition, has sparked calls for the current opposition nominated Election Commissioners to step down, and make way for three new Commissioners.

The Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, Justice (Retired) Claudette Singh has remained silent on the issue, but has not convened a meeting of the Elections Commission in more than eight months, fueling the controversy.

In his letter to Norton, the Opposition Leader said with Local Government Elections due this year, it is critical to resolve the issue.

Mohamed explained that the current opposition nominated Commissioners – Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman – were appointed based on the advice of the previous Opposition Leader from a different political party, and as such, they do not reflect the makeup of the opposition’s parliamentary configuration at present.

“The purpose of the Leader of the Opposition’s advisory role under Article 161is to ensure that the parliamentary opposition enjoys meaningful representation and confidence within the Elections Commission. That constitutional purpose would be substantially undermined if the largest parliamentary opposition was indefinitely bound by appointments purportedly made at the instance of the former opposition leadership representing a different political mandate,” the Opposition Leader reasoned.

He said it is “unthinkable” that the Constitution contemplated a situation where the Opposition Leader or the President would be constrained to work with and or advised by another political party with a completely different mandate.

The Opposition Leader is therefore of the belief that the seats of the three opposition-advised members of GECOM became vacant by operation of law following the September 2025 Elections.

Mohamed said though he has not made up his mind, he is considering advising the President to appoint Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, and Attorneys-at-Law, Siand Dhurjon and Damien Da Silva – the new Commissioners of GECOM.

Forde, Dhurjon and Da Silva are all members of Mohamed’s legal team in his current Court case, challenging a request by the US to have him and his father extradited to answer to a number of fraud related charges.

The Opposition Leader had given Norton up until June 19 to respond to his letter, and had also extended an invitation to the coalition to meet on the issue on June 23.

 Leader of Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), MP Amanza Walton was also copied in the letter.

In April, former Speaker of the National Assembly, Senior Counsel Hari Ramkarran told News Source that in the absence of constitutional reform, it would be difficult to remove the Election Commissioners, who were nominated by a previous opposition.

He had explained that the Constitution is silent on the issue of term limits for the Commissioners.

Contextualizing the issue, Senior Counsel Ramkarran explained that in the past, the Constitution established a clear term limit for the Election Commission.    However, changes to the Constitution in 2001 saw the removal of the clause that provided for the Commissioners to vacate their posts after elections. Those changes, Ramkarran said, were based on the recommendations put forward by the Carter Center.

In its last two observation reports on elections in Guyana, the Carter Center has called for electoral reform to take place.

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