Bill drafted to amend composition of Constitution Reform Commission – AG Nandlall

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, revealed that his office has already drafted amendments to the Constitution Reform Commission Act to change the current composition of the body to reflect the Parliamentary changes stemming from the recent General and Regional Elections.

At the September 1, 2025, polls, the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), a new political party formed by US-sanctioned and now indicted businessman Azruddin Mohamed, secured the spot as the main Parliamentary opposition with 16 seats, demoting the People’s National Congress-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) to a minority opposition party with just 12 seats and kicking out the Alliance For Change (AFC) from the National Assembly.
While the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) cemented its Parliamentary majority with 36 seats, another new political party, Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), managed to get one seat in the opposition side.
According to AG Nandlall, this new Parliamentary composition would require changes to the Constitutional Reform Commission (CRC), which caters for five representatives from the Government and five from the Parliamentary opposition, including four from the main opposition party and one from the joinder parties, which no longer exists.
“The Act was drafted for that particular Parliamentary configuration that existed at the time, and that Act… was passed unanimously, and it was the product of a Select Committee… I believe that is where the notion came from that we must maintain the composition of the parties in Parliament rather than say five from Government and five from opposition.”
“At that time, we named the political party, and now you have a different configuration, which is in keeping with the spirit of the Act because… we wanted five members of the Government and five from the opposition, and the five from the opposition must come from the [entire] opposition. But you have a new configuration there now, or you are likely to have a new configuration there now with this new political party being in [and] AFC is no longer there,” Nandlall pointed out.

Bill to be considered when Parliament resumes
To this end, Attorney General Nandlall disclosed during his programme, Issues in the News, which was aired on Tuesday evening, that his office has already taken steps to make the necessary changes to the Constitution Reform Commission Act.
“So, adjustments have already been made to a draft Bill, and as soon as Parliament resumes, of course, it has to receive the imprimatur of Cabinet [before]. That Bill will [then] have to be considered by the National Assembly. I think I see one member of the Commission has already resigned following the same trend of thought that I have expressed here,” the Minister noted.
That member who resigned from the Commission is former AFC leader Nigel Hughes, who stepped down from the helm of the party just last month after its poor performance at the recent elections.
The members of the CRC include: AG Nandlall along with Ministers Gail Teixeira, Dr Frank Anthony, Pauline Sukhai, and Kwame McCoy for the PPP/C Government; Vincent Alexander, Sherwood Lowe, Ganesh Mahipal and previously Hughes for the then APNU+AFC Opposition; while Timothy Jonas was the other political appointee, representing the joinder parties that held a seat in the last National Assembly; Labour Movement Representative Aslim Singh, National Toshaos Council Representative Derrick John, Private Sector Representative Ramesh Persaud, Women’s Representative Kim Kyte-Thomas, Youth Representative Dr Josh Kanhai, Muslim Representative Imran Ally, Hindu Representative Radha Krishna Sharma, Christian Representative Keoma Griffith, Farmers’ Representative Adrian Anamayah, and the Guyana Bar Association Representative Kamal Ramkarran. Provisions were also made for the President to appoint a Chairman of the Commission, and former acting Chancellor of the Judiciary (Ret’d) Justice Carl Singh has since been selected to head the body.
Meanwhile, AG Nandlall also used the opportunity during his programme on Tuesday evening to respond to criticisms about the work of the body being stalled during the election period.
He explained that it was unanimously agreed that the work of the 21-member Commission would be halted to allow political members to fulfil their obligations on the campaign trail.
“That is 50 per cent right away [membership] of the Commission, and that decision was taken unanimously by members of the Commission. I saw great criticisms being made, but how can you sit when you have political responsibilities on a daily basis and nightly basis that take you away from Georgetown invariably and take you into different parts of the country, which make it impossible for you to meet and do anything constructive? So, it is for those reasons that the Commission decided that it will pause its meetings until the elections have been concluded,” the Minister noted.

Constitution Reform Commission Bill 2022
The highly anticipated Constitution Reform Commission Bill 2022 was first tabled in the House back in August 2022 and was subsequently passed in November of that year. After months of consultations and negotiations, President Dr Irfaan Ali swore in the CRC members in April and May 2024.
The Act sought to establish a commission to review the country’s supreme laws, outlining the key areas that should be considered for potential reforms. These include the fundamental rights of citizens, Indigenous peoples’ rights, rights of children, the eradication of discrimination, enhancement of race relations, promotion of ethnic security and equal opportunity, safeguarding minority rights, electoral reforms, economic, political, and cultural rights, fiduciary responsibility, bolstering integrity in public office, as well as the functioning of the National Assembly and local Government.
During the April 3, 2024, swearing-in ceremony, President Ali had told the Commission members that while these areas are wide-ranging, they are not exhaustive in their scope of work. He further noted that the Constitution must be drafted in clear and accessible language that is comprehensible to the average individual. This, according to the Head of State, would ensure that all citizens understand their rights and obligations, thereby facilitating active participation in the democratic process and reinforcing the mutual understanding between the Government and the governed.