Guyana will hold elections for a new government on September 1, 2025, President Irfaan Ali announced Sunday night during his address on the country’s 59th Independence anniversary.
Speaking at national celebrations held in Albion, Berbice, Ali said he had consulted with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and was advised of its readiness to conduct General and Regional elections on that date.
This will be the first national vote since the country began spending from its rapidly growing oil windfall. Oil has brought in some US$7 billion in revenue from royalties and crude sales since 2020. The government has withdrawn approximately $4 billion from its Natural Resource Fund to finance a vast public investment agenda. These include roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, energy capacity, and free tuition across all public tertiary and technical education institutions.
The People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), which holds a one-seat parliamentary majority and governs under Ali’s leadership, is widely expected to contest the elections with the sitting President as its candidate. Meanwhile, the opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC), which formed a coalition government from 2015 to 2020, have discussed reuniting, but no formal coalition has been confirmed.
The last general election in March 2020 spiraled into a months-long political crisis after attempts to rig the outcome in favor of the then-incumbent coalition. It took five months, a national recount, and international pressure for the PPP/C to be declared the winner. This coming election is expected to test voters’ judgment on the government’s stewardship of the oil era.
Guyana’s Representation of the People Act stipulates that Nomination Day, when parties submit candidate lists, must occur no fewer than 32 days before Election Day, setting late July as the latest possible deadline for nominations.
The election announcement came just hours after Venezuela held controversial elections to add a governor and lawmakers to represent Guyana’s Essequibo region, defying a recent order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) barring such actions.
The Guyana government flew local journalists to the Venezuelan border on Sunday, where no election activity was observed in the nearby communities.
Last Friday, Guyana’s National Assembly passed a motion condemning Venezuela’s actions and reaffirming Guyana’s sovereignty over Essequibo. The vote was marked by an unusual walkout from most opposition parliamentarians, led by Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton. Norton criticized the government for excluding the opposition from strategic decision-making regarding the border controversy.
Domestically, public unease has grown following the death of a child, with allegations of police corruption and mishandling stoking national outrage. This, along with concerns about inequality, race, and the management of oil wealth, could feature heavily in election campaign discourse.
Several smaller parties are also expected to participate in the elections. Currently, the PPP/C holds 33 seats, APNU+AFC jointly holds 31, and a tripartite joinder holds one seat, occupied by an individual who has refused to vacate the seat despite an agreement to rotate it among three parties. With no legal mechanism to enforce rotation, she is expected to remain in Parliament until its dissolution.
