Guyana’s National Assembly moved one step forward in solidifying its 13th parliamentary governance structure this Monday, as Speaker Manzoor Nadir convened and chaired a plenary meeting to elect chairmen for all standing and sectoral parliamentary committees. The cross-party appointments, which include representation from both the ruling coalition and opposition blocs, lay the groundwork for parliamentary oversight and policy review across all sectors of national governance.
Following the voting process, the Parliament Office released the full list of confirmed chair appointments. Key leadership positions include Vishnu Panday from the opposition bloc We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) tapped to lead the high-profile Public Accounts Committee (PAC); Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall will take the helm of the Constitutional Reform Committee; Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips will chair the Oversight Committee on the Security Sector; and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira will lead the Committee of Appointments.
For sectoral parliamentary committees, the leadership lineup is as follows: WIN’s Duarte Hetsberger will chair the Economic Services Committee; Dr. Vindhya Persaud will lead the Social Services Committee; WIN’s Odessa Primus will head the Foreign Relations Committee; and Minister Vickram Bharrat will chair the Natural Resources Committee. In accordance with the National Assembly’s Standing Orders, Speaker Manzoor Nadir will automatically serve as chair of four internal committees: the Standing Orders Committee, the Assembly Committee, the Committee of Privileges, and the Statutory Instrument Committee.
In an official statement, the Parliament Office emphasized that the completion of these committee appointments represents a critical milestone for the 13th Parliament. The establishment of these cross-party bodies will allow elected members to immediately begin their core oversight responsibilities: reviewing all sector-specific policies and government administrative actions, and verifying that government policy implementation aligns with principles of good governance and serves the best interests of all Guyanese citizens, the statement added.
All committees feature bipartisan representation from the three major parliamentary blocs: the ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC), opposition WIN, and opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). For the Public Accounts Committee, the PPPC-led government holds five seats filled by Minister Teixeira, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, Deputy Speaker Vishwa Mahadeo, and parliamentarians Suresh Singh and Sanjeev Datadin, while WIN holds two seats (Panday and Nandranie Singh) and APNU holds two seats (Ganesh Mahipaul and Juretha Fernandes).
Other key committees also follow this inclusive power-sharing structure. The Security Sector Oversight Committee counts government ministers Anil Nandlall, Ashni Singh, Hugh Todd, and Oneidge Walrall as members alongside two WIN representatives (Toshana Femey-Corlette and Duarte Hetsberger) and two APNU representatives (Sherod Duncan and Saiku Andrews). The Constitutional Reform Committee includes five government members led by Nandlall, two WIN members, and two APNU members.
Across all sectoral committees, the inclusive arrangement remains consistent. The Economic Services Committee includes five government members, two WIN members, and two APNU members; the Human Services (Social Services) Committee holds four government seats, three WIN seats, and one APNU seat; the Natural Resources Committee has five government representatives, three WIN representatives, and one APNU representative; and the Foreign Relations Committee includes five government members, two opposition members from WIN, and two opposition members from APNU.