With just 23 days to go before Guyana heads to the polls, the race for the presidency is heating up. Key contenders are vying to lead the country through its next chapter, fueled by billions in oil revenues.
Six parties are in the race. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) incumbent, Dr. Irfaan Ali is aiming for his second term. He remains confident of re-election, predicting a landslide victory. The PPPP/C has said it plans to continue its developmental agenda, promoting a diversified economy and prosperity for all Guyanese.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) – a political alliance of several parties – is gunning for a repeat of its 2015 win, in what was then a coalition with the Alliance For Change (AFC). They formed an APNU+AFC government. This time, Aubrey Norton, People’s National Congress Reform (PNC) stalwart and party leader, is APNU’s presidential candidate. APNU says it has a people-centered strategy as its focal point, with the overarching promise of ensuring every Guyanese gets more from the oil.
The party was at the center of the detracted March 2020 elections, where international observers said the APNU+AFC was attempting to rig. Now, Norton is signalling a zero-tolerance for rigging. He’s quoted in the local media as saying the party will accept results from an honest election, but if the election is not, “it would be a totally different story”.
The AFC has since divorced the APNU, going into the race alone with lawyer Nigel Hughes running point. He has signalled plans to have a diverse Cabinet that promotes gender equality.
There’s also the Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP) and the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), both led by women who split from APNU: Simona Broomes and Amanza Walton-Desir, respectively.
Last on the list is the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party led by United States-sanctioned Guyanese businessman, Azruddin Mohamed. He and his father, their companies, along with a PPP/C government official, Mae Thomas, were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last year for their roles in public corruption in Guyana.
The upcoming election is about more than picking a president; it will be a test of the country’s maturity as an oil-rich democracy. Politics in Guyana has, for decades, been split along racial lines, with the PPP/C and APNU drawing support from Indo- and Afro-Guyanese communities respectively. That divide remains, and is arguably more pronounced now.
The upcoming polling day comes with higher stakes. Whoever wins will control billions in oil wealth that will shape Guyana’s future for decades to come. Memories of the 2020 elections remain fresh in the minds of citizens, and the risk of renewed fraud claims is real and could again test the country’s ability to produce free and fair elections.
New parties and fresh faces – especially women-led groups – entered the mix, signaling a possible frustration with the old guard. Whether they’ll break through remains uncertain. The decision lies with the voters come September 1.
