Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC, has raised serious concerns about the ongoing public debate surrounding the delayed appointment of a Leader of the Opposition, arguing that a far more troubling issue is being ignored.
Businessman, Azruddin Mohamed faces U.S. charges related to alleged tax evasion, money laundering, and fraudulent gold export schemes, reportedly involving over US$50 million. Despite these serious criminal allegations, Mohamed’s party, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), performed strongly in the 2025 general election, securing the second highest number of seats and dethroning the APNU. Mohamed’s party as the main opposition potentially gives him the role of Leader of the Opposition. Three months later, the meeting to elect the Opposition Leader is yet to be called.
The responsibility to convene the meeting rests with Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir, who is currently overseas.
Nandlall, during his “Issues in the News” Programme, expressed hope that the matter will be handled when the Speaker returns.
However, he noted that while Guyana is a democratic country and citizens have a right to express their concerns about the delay, the real issue is not administrative delay, but the silence surrounding the fact that the opposition parliamentarian expected to assume the post is, in his words, a “fugitive offender.”
“I am not seeing the same type of concerns being expressed about Guyana having a Leader of the Opposition who is a fugitive offender and who is the subject of extradition proceedings… indicted on serious charges of international crimes such as money laundering and mail fraud,” Nandlall declared.
He stressed that Guyana now finds itself in unchartered waters.
“Speaking as Attorney General, my greater concern is the absence of equal lamentation about having in the Parliament of Guyana for the first time and having in the Parliament of the English-speaking Caribbean for the first time and possibly, the English-speaking Commonwealth for the first time, a fugitive offender. And I expect the same type of lamentation to be expressed, but it is conspicuously absent. ”
