CCJ to rule on constitutional battle over FGM’s ballot exclusion in Regions 7, 8, and 9

(Kaieteur News) – The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has reserved judgment on an appeal seeking to declare Guyana’s 1st September, 2025 National and Regional Elections unconstitutional and of no legal effect — a claim two lower courts have already rejected.

The regional tribunal, sitting in Port of Spain, Trinidad, heard the appeal in Krystal Hadassah Fisher v. The Guyana Elections Commission and The Attorney General of Guyana (CCJ Appeal GYCV No. 1 of 2026) on Thursday, and said it would notify the parties once a decision is ready and set a date for its delivery.

At the heart of the case is Fisher’s argument that the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) exclusion of her party, the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), from the ballot in Regions Seven, Eight, and Nine rendered the entire national election unconstitutional. GECOM and the Attorney General reject that framing, maintaining that FGM was never excluded — rather, the party itself failed to submit a candidates’ list for those three regions, making it ineligible to contest elections there under the Representation of the People Act (ROPA).