𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐅𝐮𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐬

Following a meeting with Western diplomats today, Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir is standing by his position that US-indicted Azruddin Mohamed is not fit for the post of Opposition Leader, given that he faces extradition over several indictable charges in the United States.

During a televised address on Tuesday evening, Nadir said he found himself in a “difficult constitutional position” while presiding over the election of an “international fugitive.”
“If opposition Members of Parliament feel it morally right to elect an international fugitive, then the stain on our Parliament and our country rests solely with them,” the Speaker said, while stressing that he will proceed with the process regardless of the outcome.

Azruddin Mohamed is widely expected to be elected Opposition Leader, with his party having secured 16 of the 29 non-government seats in the new Parliament. In early October 2025, a U.S. grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted Mohamed and his father, Nazar Mohamed, on multiple charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, and customs violations linked to a US$50 million gold-smuggling tax-evasion scheme. A request for extradition was later made by U.S. authorities, and the matter is currently before Guyana’s courts.

In July 2023, Reuters reported that the Mohamed father and son were being investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies over suspicions of smuggling Colombian cocaine and illegally mined Venezuelan gold to the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. The report also stated that they were suspected of laundering money for drug traffickers and criminals, including sanctioned Russian nationals operating in the region.