Shadow Foreign Minister Amanza Walton-Desir has publicly called on President Irfaan Ali to stop associating her with claims of electoral rigging. In a pointed Facebook Live video on Wednesday, she questioned the President’s decision to accuse her of involvement in election fraud while simultaneously embracing individuals in his own party who, she suggested, could also be considered complicit in such acts.
From the 2020 Election Recount, evidence revealed 47 ballot boxes within the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) stronghold were without statutory/legal documentation, yet the Guyana Elections Commissions counted those votes as ‘valid’ which is one of the controversies surrounding the outcome and declaration of the results.
In her broadcast Walton-Desir declared “I’m not interested in joining the PPP; I will never be interested”
The politician cautioned the president not to drag her name into the constant narrative about rigging, firmly rebuking the President’s repeated references to her in that context.
Her comments were in direct response to remarks made by President Ali earlier that day while speaking to the press at the launch of Orinduik Marine Services.
Referring to Walton-Desir, Ali said, “This is someone who played a central role during five years of destruction… someone who was at the forefront of trying to subvert the will of the people—and now she’s suddenly preaching about moral values. It’s hypocritical and unapologetic.”
Ali continued by criticising what he described as a “coalition of convenience,” claiming the opposition’s only goal is to remove the PPP/C from office, rather than present credible policies for national development.
Walton-Desir also took issue with Ali’s comments about repentance and forgiveness, blasting the sanctimonious talk about forgiveness, questioning whether the president thinks he is “God that people must seek forgiveness for perceived sins from [him]?
Meanwhile, in a separate post, addressing the ongoing rift between the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) over forming a united front for the upcoming General and Regional Elections, Walton-Desir urged immediate action and warned against further delay.
In a passionate appeal posted online, she lamented the lack of progress, saying that “Enough is Enough.” She revealed that since January 2025, she had been making consistent private efforts to encourage unity among the parties, but those calls have been largely ignored.
“For six months I’ve been appealing to party leaders to come together and build something the people of Guyana can support and believe in,” she wrote. “Yet here we are—more divided now than we were at the start.”
As a key figure in the Opposition, Walton-Desir expressed deep concern that the leadership is failing to meet public expectations. “We’re failing the people who look to us for leadership,” she stated, condemning the ongoing cycle of division and public squabbling that she believes is weakening public confidence and enabling what she described as a “corrupt and incompetent government” to act without accountability.
