Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Parliament of Guyana recently met under the Chairmanship of the Speaker to elect the members of several standing committees. Following the appointment of the members to serve on the various committees, the MP representing the FGM, Ms Amanza Walton-Desir, was not appointed to serve on any committee. The WIN party had promised to nominate MP Walton-Desir to serve on at least one committee, specifically identifying the Committee on Foreign Relations.
WIN subsequently alleged that the reason for MP Walton-Desir not being appointed was that the Speaker and the PPP’s Chief Whip, Minister Gail Teixeira, prevented MP Walton-Desir from being nominated. WIN deliberately and maliciously gave the impression that the Speaker collaborated with Minister Teixeira to prevent MP Desir from serving. MP Walton-Desir herself, in a public statement, reaffirmed WIN’s explanation that she was prevented from being nominated for any committee because the Speaker and Minister Teixeira had objected to her nomination.
In the process, MP Walton-Desir and WIN engaged in misrepresentation and misinformation, fabricating a story that the Speaker and Minister Teixeira engaged in a conspiracy to prevent MP Amanza Walton-Desir from being a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations or being a member of any parliamentary committee. The truth is neither the Speaker nor Minister Teixeira could block anyone from being a member of any committee. Members are nominated by political parties in accordance with Standing Orders. Once nominations are within the provisions of the Standing Orders, neither the Speaker nor any other member can prevent the nomination. The bottom line is that the Standing Orders prevented MP Walton-Desir from being a member of the Foreign Relations or any other committee; Minister Teixeira and the Speaker had nothing to do with MP Walton-Desir’s non-appointment.
The Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Relations, as provided for by the Standing Orders of the National Assembly, consists of nine members. The members are nominated by each political party in Parliament in accordance with proportional representation. It has always been the case. Based on their electoral strength and the parliamentary representation of 36 seats (PPP), 16 seats (WIN), 12 seats (APNU) and one seat (FMG), the parties are eligible for the following distribution of the nine members on the Committee on Foreign Relations: 4.99 (PPP), 2.21 (WIN), 1.67 (APNU) and 0.14 (FMG). This translates into PPP – five seats, WIN – two seats, APNU – two seats and FMG – 0.
Azruddin Mohamed, his WIN party and MP Amanza Walton-Desir knowingly tried to misinform the public on how the members of the various parliamentary committees were selected. They deliberately and maliciously spread disinformation, trying to make the Speaker and Minister Teixeira the “bad guys”.
Unfortunately, the Opposition parties in Guyana have become totally dependent on fabricating stories, misinforming and misrepresenting facts. Misinformation and misrepresentation are bread-and-butter tools used by WIN’s leader Azruddin Mohamed and his followers and by the Opposition parties. The persistent utilisation of fabricated stories, misinformation and misrepresentation have become tactical tools to manipulate public opinion, mobilise voters and undermine the PPP.
The misinformation tactics and strategy adopted by WIN and the Opposition are not unique to the Opposition in Guyana. This has become a tool widely used by political parties and politicians across the globe. The political space in Guyana and around the world is now filled with misinformation and disinformation. Debates based on facts and reasoning are now pushed to the back of the room. The differences between political opponents are no longer based on ideas and reasoning. Facts-based arguments are no longer part of the debates. It has now become an exercise to see who dares fabricate, misinform or misrepresent the “biggest”.
Remember when the IDB published a report that in 2018 and 2019 the poverty rate in Guyana was 58 per cent and the Opposition parties made a big deal that the IDB reported a 58 per cent poverty rate for Guyana in 2025? The Opposition was spreading disinformation. This is their bread and butter. Misinforming the population is what they do, and they do it barefacedly. They never provided the whole story, the big picture; instead, the Opposition provides part of the story and then blames President Irfaan Ali and the PPP Government and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.
The same Opposition parties ignore facts like the Human Development Index, which was 0.44 in 1990 and is today close to 0.8. Countries with high poverty rates usually have HDIs below 0.5. The Opposition parties ignore facts like Guyanese imported more than 10,000 vehicles in just 10 weeks. When confronted with the reality that Guyanese families are now owning their own vehicles, the Opposition insists that only rich people and businesses import vehicles. Yet we see in community after community, ordinary families own their own vehicles. We see home mortgages growing to almost $200 billion in 2025. Thousands of ordinary families are accessing mortgages to build new homes. These families are not just rich people; these families are found in every single community in Guyana. But if one were to listen to the Opposition, one would think these facts are not Guyanese facts.
The truth is the present Opposition parties in Guyana do not seem to have a clue on how to oppose President Irfaan Ali and the PPP Government on their policies and their performance. Instead, they rely on misinformation to exploit people’s anxieties. While the President and the VP and Cabinet members work with citizens in the communities to improve their lives and to ensure bottlenecks are eliminated, the Opposition parties look for opportunities to misinform and spread disinformation. This cannot be a sustainable political strategy. Sooner or later people discover the truth.