National Assembly

National Assembly

The roles of the National Assembly fall into three main categories: legislative, financial and oversight.

1.          The legislative role is to approve bills.

2.          The financial role is to keep the various ministries operational

            and within a budget.

3.          The oversight role is to ensure that the Government is kept

            transparent and accountable.

The National Assembly is comprised of 65 Members of Parliament (who are elected by the people of Guyana every five years) and not more than four non-elected Ministers and two Parliamentary Secretaries who are appointed by the President. Every Guyanese citizen who is 18 years old and over has the right to vote in secret for the party of his/her choice at the General Elections. The parties that are allocated seats choose persons to be Members of the National Assembly.

On the same day as general elections, voters also elect representatives to serve on Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) in each of Guyana’s 10 regions.

Every Guyanese citizen who is at least 18 years old is qualified for election to the National Assembly, except for persons who have committed serious crimes or are unfit for public office in other ways described in the Constitution.

Each time there is a general election, members of the new National Assembly elect a Speaker. The Speaker presides at sittings of the Assembly and is responsible for the observance of the Standing Orders.

Members of Parliament take an oath to honour, uphold and preserve the Constitution of Guyana. Members, other than Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries, may hold private jobs while they are in office.

Meetings of the National Assembly, called sittings, are open to the public. A sitting of the National Assembly is the period during which the Assembly meets in the Parliament Chamber on any day. Sittings of the Assembly commence at 2:00 p.m. A suspension of a sitting is the short period during which business is temporarily interrupted for a break. Breaks usually occur at 4:00 p.m. for half an hour and at 6:30 p.m. for one and a half hours. An adjournment of the Assembly is the close of the proceedings at the end of a day’s sitting.

A recess for the Assembly is held from 10th August to 10th October every year. During this period, no sittings are held unless there are special reasons for doing so.