The elections are over. The votes are being tabulated. From the evidence presented by the statements of poll, the days of two-party politics in Guyana are over.
The history of Caribbean politics in the English-speaking countries has always been about two political parties. Guyana saw the entry of a third party for the 1964 elections. That party was the United Force. It was also integral to the first coalition in the region.
A third party never had an impact again until the arrival of the Alliance For Change. The performance of this party in the 2011 elections saw a minority government. It later saw the emergence of another coalition government. By then the main opposition party had become a coalition of smaller parties.
In these elections of 2025, another third party has emerged. This one has outperformed all other third parties to contest elections in Guyana. It became a genuine force to the extent that there were reports of this party actually winning the elections.
Guyana must thank the People’s Progressive Party for giving rise to this party named We Invest in Nationhood. The PPP government enjoyed the support of the founders of WIN, the Mohameds, both father and son Nazar and Azruddin.
The United States applied sanctions to the Mohameds having accused them of tax evasion and gold smuggling. The PPP government then decided to use the information provided by the United States to pursue the Mohameds.
This angered the Mohameds who then opted to challenge the establishment through political means. The mere idea of a political party headed by Azruddin Mohamed sent shockwaves down the spine of the PPP. The attacks against the Mohameds came fast and furious but instead of pushing Azruddin into the background, they galvanised him.
No one expected this performance by WIN. While the other political leaders faced the media, Mohamed shied away. He had limited interaction with the press. Instead he went about his campaign almost without notice.
And his campaign was not without incident. The ruling party did everything to thwart his movement to the various parts of the country. Private aircraft owners declined to fly him to the interior. He met obstacles even when he traveled by road.
The power of his meetings in the various parts of the country has led him to win areas once the domain of the PPP and the coalition A Partnership for National Unity. Such has been the performance that Mohamed is expected to wrest Region Nine from the PPP. He has already captured Linden, Region Seven and Region Eight according to the reports. His performance in Region Nine is such that the PPP wants a recount.
He has also done well in other areas including East Berbice, West Berbice and Region Four. The new kid on the block has performed beyond the wildest expectations of the onlookers.
APNU suffered from the movement of its young people many of whom have been languishing in poverty and saw no way out. All they got from the ruling PPP were contracts to clean drains and lay concrete.
Mohamed has to thank the PPP for the windfall. The PPP had starved the people to the extent that anyone who offered them something, would grab their attention. APNU was in no position to lift them out of poverty. It did not have the money and it did not have the wherewithal to provide meaningful employment for them.
In the wake of these elections, APNU has to regroup. It has to evaluate the reason for its losses. At the same time, it cannot afford to lose heart. There was a time when the PPP was reduced to nine seats in the National Assembly. That party bided its time. For nearly two decades it couldn’t put up any proper showing in the elections.
It did not roll over. It eventually came back with foreign help. The 1992 elections were rigged to help it. The late Jimmy Carter consolidated its 1992 win with the announcement of his quick count.
Many people were disenfranchised that year. Some saw their names on the voters’ lists posted outside the polling places but when they went inside to cast their ballot their names were just not there. The rigging began with the printing of the voters’ list. This trend has continued. This time people were also used. No one knows how Bangladeshis and Indian nationals secured Guyana identification cards. Some of the cards were issued in July but these people’s names were on the voters’ list.
One group of Bangladeshis, 26 of them, all named Mahto, barely understood English, and all lived at the same address. They were all transported to the place of poll at Diamond by the same bus. Their identification card described them as Commonwealth nationals. There have been other forms of rigging. Many still remember the PPP releasing statements of poll one day ahead of the 2020 elections. It turned out that the results matched those premature statements of poll.
The nation awaits the final count to determine the number of seats in the National Assembly. The trend shows that Guyana would end up with a minority government. In keeping with tradition the PPP is claiming a parliamentary majority. If this is to be believed, then the official results would be prone to unnecessary comments from supporters and the ensuing confusion. Be all that as it may the voters have spoken and the local political landscape has changed.
