Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Information, Kwame McCoy, said the government will proceed with the presentation of its 2026 national budget next week, rejecting the idea that the absence of a formally elected Opposition Leader renders the process unlawful.
“To insist that the Government cannot lawfully present a Budget because there is “no Opposition” is either mischievous by design or a clear demonstration of an inability to comprehend what transpired at the opening of the 13th Parliament on November 3, 2025,” the Minister said.
McCoy said in a Facebook post on Monday night that Parliament was lawfully constituted and that opposition members had been sworn in.
“A deliberate falsehood is being repeated,” McCoy said, responding to speculation circulating on social media that the government plans to present the budget in the absence of an Opposition Leader.
He said the swearing-in of opposition parliamentarians was a matter of public record, broadcast live and documented in the parliamentary Hansard.
“The contradiction exposes the narrative for what it is,” McCoy said, accusing critics of deliberately misleading the public instead of preparing to debate the budget on its merits.
Guyana has gone more than two months without a Leader of the Opposition after opposition lawmakers were sworn in following elections, marking the longest such delay on record. The vote to select an Opposition Leader must be held at a sitting convened by the Speaker of the National Assembly, but no date has yet been set.
Azruddin Mohamed of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party is the only apparent contender for the post, being the leader of the party that got the second highest number of votes last September. though the government raised concerns about his suitability, citing the U.S. indictment against him for fraud.
Western diplomats representing the United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union have publicly called for the opposition leadership issue to be resolved without further delay.
President Irfaan Ali, sworn in on Sept. 7, has now been in office for more than four months without a constitutionally appointed Opposition Leader.
McCoy said the government would present the 2026 budget on Monday, Jan. 26, outlining what he described as continued economic growth and development under the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic administration.
