– as Order Paper lists only oath-taking,  election of Speaker, Deputy Speaker

THERE will be no swearing in of a Leader of the Opposition when the 13th Parliament of Guyana convenes for its first sitting today, a parliamentary source has confirmed.

According to the source, the Order Paper for the session lists only two items — the administering of  oaths  to Members of Parliament (MPs) and the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

The Leader of the Opposition, under Guyana’s Constitution, is elected by and from the non-government Members of the National Assembly at a special meeting chaired by the Speaker, who does not vote. The absence of this item on the agenda means that today’s sitting will be limited to the formal induction of members and the election of the two above-mentioned officials.

The 13th Parliament follows the September 1, 2025 General and Regional Elections and will comprise 65 members, 36 of whom will be from the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C);  16 from the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN); 12 from the People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and one from the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM).

The governing PPP/C therefore retains a clear majority in the new parliament, while the remaining seats are held by the three opposition parties.