Guyanese President Irfaan Ali has vigorously defended his administration’s decision to appoint and swear in a seven-member Teaching Service Commission (TSC) despite the absence of an officially recognized Opposition Leader, a position required by the constitution for meaningful consultation on such appointments.
Addressing concerns raised by journalists, President Ali asserted that governmental and constitutional processes must proceed uninterrupted. “The work of the government must continue. The work of the Constitution must continue,” he stated during Wednesday’s proceedings. The President emphasized that the commission’s establishment was crucial for improving educational quality and creating advancement opportunities for teachers, with Education Minister Sonia Parag having stressed the importance of constituting the body before the new school term.
The political backdrop reveals a complex constitutional standoff. Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir has yet to convene opposition parliamentarians to elect a leader for the 16-seat We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party. The anticipated candidate, Azruddin Mohamed, faces extradition requests from the United States over financial crime allegations, with Attorney General Anil Nandlall previously warning that Mohamed’s appointment would tarnish the nation’s reputation.
Opposition parliamentarian Ganesh Mahipaul of APNU condemned the presidential move as “constitutional erosion,” accusing the administration of displaying “a maturing dictatorship unfolding before our eyes.” Mahipaul further criticized the international community for remaining silent on these constitutional developments while engaging diplomatically with the Ali government.
The President referenced a five-month-old legal precedent wherein Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire had ruled that appointing a Police Commissioner without opposition consultation was constitutionally permissible out of necessity. When questioned about gender assumptions regarding the future opposition leader, Ali noted the decision would depend on parliamentary voting, remarking, “I don’t know that the Opposition Leader will be a ‘he’ or a ‘she’.”
The newly inaugurated TSC, chaired by Doodmattie Singh alongside six other members including Chief Education Officer Saddam-Hussain, faces immediate challenges with 2,700 senior vacancies created by the government to enhance educational quality. President Ali highlighted that these positions would facilitate faster career advancement for teachers who traditionally “had to wait all their life, close to retirement to become head teachers.”