Political commentator GHK Lall has praised the recent resignation of opposition politician C.A. Nigel Hughes, calling it a rare act of political honour in Guyana’s fractured landscape. In a sharply worded op-ed, Lall drew comparisons to figures from military and political history—ranging from Japanese generals to British prime ministers—who chose resignation or death in the face of defeat, suggesting that Hughes’ departure, while not as extreme, represents a commendable gesture of accountability.
“Whatever the job he intended to do; he didn’t get it done,” Lall wrote. “He didn’t come close; he wasn’t ever in the battle for hearts and votes.” Still, he lauded Hughes for stepping down without delay: “It is not quite seppuku, but it is good enough for me.”
Hughes, who was elected Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) in June 2024, has not spoken publicly about his resignation. He has instead directed all media inquiries to the party’s General Secretary, Raphael Trotman. However, in a letter to party executives—reported by Demerara Waves—Hughes took full responsibility for the party’s devastating electoral performance.
“Unfortunately, the results were beyond disappointing, the responsibility for which rests solely on my shoulder,” Hughes wrote.
The AFC managed to secure only 3,610 votes nationwide across all 10 electoral districts—an astonishing collapse for a party that had once been a serious political force. In its 2006 debut, the AFC won five seats with 28,366 votes. That number grew to 35,333 votes and seven seats in 2011, before the party entered government as part of the A Partnership National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition in 2015. The latest result, however, confirmed the party’s near-erasure from the national political scene.
Lall placed Hughes’ resignation within a global context of political accountability. Referencing historical figures such as Japanese Lt. General Isamu Cho and General Masakazu Kawabe—who committed ritual suicide after Japan’s WWII defeat—and General Hideki Tojo, who failed in his own suicide attempt and was later executed for war crimes, Lall emphasised the deeply held cultural significance of accepting responsibility.
“These three men knew that the disgrace of loss in the war required no less a sacrifice than that of knives in the gut, a public disembowelment in recognition of their failure to earn victory,” Lall wrote. “Call it whatever applies, pleases. Bushido code. The code of honour of the samurais.”
While the West lacks such a violent code, resignation, Lall argued, is its modern counterpart. “In the Western world, resignation gives a chance to leave quietly after ignominious defeat, start over in a second season of life,” he noted. “I prefer the first.”
Former minister Raphael Trotman also weighed in on Hughes’ departure, describing it as consistent with political norms elsewhere. “It is common for leaders of political parties to ‘fall on their swords’ after defeat,” Trotman stated. Lall agreed, adding, “I add defeat that was so devastating that it dishonors.”
He also cited other global leaders who stepped down after electoral or leadership failures—France’s Charles De Gaulle, Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, and the Philippines’ Ferdinand Marcos among them. “There is a time to stay and a time to go,” Lall insisted. “Upending, sprawling, disgracing electoral defeat should have an automatic switch marked ‘resignation’ that goes on in such circumstances.”
For Lall, Hughes’ exit stands in sharp contrast to the norm in Guyanese politics. “Unfortunately, there isn’t such a culture in Guyana, such a universal state of mind. Men and women stick around too long,” he wrote. “The longer that they stay, the more they multiply the malaise that brought about catastrophic collapse, the more they compile an encyclopedia of misery.”
Still, in Hughes’ case, Lall sees a glimmer of hope. “I am delighted that Mr. Nigel Hughes did the right thing, the honorable thing in circumstances etched through and through with the bitterness of loss,” he concluded. “I salute his action. Begin a new chapter. Live again!”
