Constitutional reform in Guyana: Back to the future?

Constitutional reform has returned to Guyana’s political agenda, but the debate is about more than changing the text of the Constitution. With a new political landscape, long-standing concerns over electoral institutions and a reform commission whose composition is already contested, the process raises a more fundamental question: who gets to shape the rules of Guyana’s democracy? Neville J. Bissember considers the challenges ahead and the conditions needed for reform to command broad legitimacy.

Once again, talk of constitutional reform is filling the air in Guyana. In November 2022, Parliament adopted the Constitutional Reform Commission Act, establishing a Constitutional Reform Commission (CRC) “to review the Constitution of Guyana to provide for the current and future rights, duties, liabilities, and obligations of the Guyanese people.” To date, however, the CRC has not publicly released any substantive work product, although funds have been allocated for office accommodation, the hiring of staff and the remuneration of Commissioners. It was only in July 2026, more than three and a half years after the Act’s adoption and two years after the CRC was constituted, that the public consultation process was officially launched. 

Background

The last time the Constitution of Guyana was amended in any substantial way was in 2001, following the general elections of December 1997. The results of those elections, which returned the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government to power, were disputed by the opposition People’s National Congress (PNC), leading to protests and violent disruptions. The unrest continued into January 1998 and prompted the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to intervene and broker an Agreement on 17 January, generally referred to as the Herdmanston Accord. The Accord, signed by the leaders of the two political parties, included extensive commitments to constitutional reform and an audit of the election results by CARICOM. The violence subsequently abated. 

The audit report of June 1998 confirmed the results of the December 1997 election. However, although the parties had agreed to abide by its findings, the opposition rejected them and once again took to the streets. The CARICOM Summit in July 1998 provided the opportunity for the two parties to meet on the sidelines and agree to implement the programme of constitutional reform set out in the Herdmanston Accord, cease the demonstrations, and open a structured dialogue. These commitments were recorded in the St. Lucia Statement of 2 July 1998.

By an Act of Parliament of 22 January 1999, a Constitution Reform Commission was established to make proposals to change the 1980 Constitution and submit a report to Parliament. Major issues at the time, which persist to this day, concerned racial equality and the provision of equal opportunity across various sections of society. In response to these concerns, the Constitution was amended, and notably established a number of Commissions, namely the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Women and Gender Equality Commission, the Indigenous Peoples Commission, and the Rights of the Child Commission.

Over the last two decades, there have been persistent calls from stakeholders (...) to amend the Constitution and reform Guyana’s electoral system.

Over the last two decades, there have been persistent calls from stakeholders—political parties, civil society, some sections of the local Amerindian community, and election observers—to amend the Constitution and reform Guyana’s electoral system. Concerns have been raised about the over-politicization of Guyana’s Elections Commission (GECOM),  the need to improve the system of counting and recording ballots in general and regional elections, the distribution of land titles for Amerindian ancestral lands and Indigenous rights, and the large number of persons eligible to vote relative to the size of the population. In light of the foregoing, in its 2020-2025 manifesto, the PPP/C committed to reform the Constitution. In 2024, with a year remaining in its mandate, the government sought to deliver on this campaign promise with the establishment of the CRC.

The Constitutional Reform Commission

The work of the current CRC largely mirrors that of the last one: both were established by Acts of Parliament and their mandates are similar. However, there are two important differences: whereas under the previous Act, the Commission Chairman was elected at the first meeting from among the members, the current Act provides that the President shall appoint the Chairman. In addition, while the 1999 Act provided a six-month timeframe within which the Commission was required to complete its work, the 2022 Act contains no comparable timeframe. As a result, more than two years have elapsed since the appointment of the Commission’s members without any tangible results, despite annual budgetary allocations of approximately one million US dollars since 2023.

Regarding the CRC's composition, both the 1999 and 2022 Acts define it by reference to the political parties represented on the government and opposition benches at the time of their enactment. The last general elections in September 2025, however, produced a seismic shift in Guyana’s political landscape when a fledgling party, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), displaced the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition as the main opposition party, shattering the traditional two-party configuration in Guyana. WIN, established only three months before the September 2025 elections, is led by Azruddin Mohamed, a former ally of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali who is fighting an extradition request from the United States after being indicted there by a grand jury on wire fraud and related financial charges, while APNU is a coalition whose principal constituent is the PNC, one of the two political parties that have historically dominated Guyanese politics alongside the PPP/C.

Thus, whereas the Commission’s composition, as provided by the 2022 Act, allocated five seats to the governing PPP/C, four to the opposition APNU, and one to a joinder arrangement between three smaller parties, the current configuration of seats in Parliament—which would need to be reflected proportionately in the composition of the CRC—is 36 seats for the PPP/C, 16 for WIN, 12 for APNU, and one for another new party, the Forward Guyana Movement. In addition, a 2024 amendment to the Constitution Reform Commission Act provided for an additional member of the CRC to be appointed by the President, increasing the membership from twenty to twenty-one. The appointment of the Chairman of the CRC by the President, his prerogative to appoint an additional member, and the contention that many of the stakeholder representatives are sympathetic to the government all contribute to its inequitable political composition. 

Shortly after the September 2025 elections, Attorney General Anil Nandlall reported that an amendment to the Constitution Reform Commission Act had been drafted so that the CRC’s composition would account for the new parliamentary configuration. Nevertheless, the proposed amendment has not yet been tabled in Parliament, and it was recently announced that the Commission was moving ahead with the public consultation process, presumably with the pre-election composition as set out in the 2022 Act. 

Questions have been raised about the process moving forward even though the requisite legislative amendment and consequential changes to the [Constitutional Reform Commission's] membership have not occurred.

Questions have been raised about the process moving forward even though the requisite legislative amendment and consequential changes to the CRC’s membership have not occurred. In a recent development, the Attorney General stated that the Commission was “properly constituted” and more recently, he elaborated on his decision to drop the proposed change to its membership.  A government sympathizer also expressed that, although the WIN party might not be afforded membership on the CRC, its members would still have the opportunity to appear before the Commission and make submissions during the planned public consultations. However, being a member of the Commission and making submissions during public consultations are two fundamentally different things.

Proposals for changes to the Constitution 

A number of recommendations for constitutional reform have already been made.

Election observer missions that monitored the 2020 elections, including those of the Carter Centre and CARICOM, called for reforms including restructuring the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), introducing biometrics to compile the preliminary voters’ list, and improving the accuracy of the voters’ register. In fact, it has long been argued that the size of the official list of electors relative to the population may indicate that the names of deceased persons and emigrants remain on the voters’ list.     

The Carter Center also advocated for extending voting rights to prisoners and for changes to the electoral system, which currently limits eligibility for election to candidates appearing on lists submitted by political parties. Other proposals have included reconsidering the powers of the President, for example by removing the words ‘the supreme executive authority’ from the constitutional provision related to the office of the President and transferring the executive authority to the Prime Minister. Further proposals include requiring that the Vice-Presidents and Deputy Prime Ministers be appointed from among parties represented in Parliament, thereby including members of opposition parties among such positions. 

More recently, following the 2025 election, the Carter Center raised concerns related to equitable access to state media by opposition parties and the absence of campaign finance legislation. Recent commentary has also highlighted several issues that warrant examination, including the concentration of presidential power and immunity, the limited implementation of the principle of inclusionary democracy, constitutional appointment deadlocks, including within the judiciary, the partisan structure of GECOM, the effectiveness of parliamentary oversight, and the extent of local government autonomy.

Conclusion

After more than two decades, Guyana’s Constitution needs another review: as a first step, the Commission has invited written submissions from stakeholders to be received by 31 December 2026. Thereafter, public consultations will be held to solicit further views, which the Commission will “receive, consider and evaluate” before compiling its recommendations for submission to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for Constitutional Reform and transmission to the National Assembly.

The required legislative changes to the Constitutional Reform Commission Act (...) need to be enacted as a matter of urgency. 

The required legislative changes to the Constitutional Reform Commission Act, to enable the CRC’s membership to reflect the current composition of the opposition bench, need to be enacted as a matter of urgency. This omission risks imperilling the whole process, as WIN’s exclusion may have consequences at the Committee and Parliamentary stages, where the party’s membership is not at issue. Furthermore, a clear timeline and methodology also need to be set for bringing about the required constitutional and legislative changes, working backward from the next election, due no later than January 2031.

Account must be taken of the elaborate procedures for amending the Constitution under Article 164, including the varying parliamentary majorities required for the passage of amendment bills, which in some cases necessitate a two-thirds majority. Consideration must further be given to the need to identify common ground and build consensus through, among other things, public consultations and the collective work of the CRC. This is particularly important because some amendments will require cross-party collaboration to secure the two-thirds legislative majority necessary for their passage.

About the Author

Neville J. Bissember is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Law in the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Guyana. He previously served as Legal Adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guyana, Legal Counsel in the ACP (now OACPS) Secretariat in Brussels, Assistant General Counsel in the CARICOM Secretariat and Adviser to the CARICOM Secretary General. He holds an LL.B. (Hons) degree from the University of the West Indies and an LL.M. from the University of London (LSE). He was also a Hubert Humphrey Fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.  

Suggested Citation

Neville J. Bissember, ‘Constitutional reform in Guyana: Back to the future?', ConstitutionNet, International IDEA, 15 September 2026, https://constitutionnet.org/news/voices/constitutional-reform-guyana-back-future  

Further Reading

• Updates on constitutional developments in Guyana.
• International IDEA, Constitution Building Primers.