Are Guyanese ready for change?

Mar 10, 2025 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Peeping Tom…

Kaieteur News- There is a certain rhythm to Guyanese politics. There has been a predictable ebb and flow that has carried the country through decades of electoral battle, power struggles, and moments of hesitant reform.

The two dominant political forces—the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the People’s National Congress (PNC)—are more than just political parties. They are institutions, long-standing adversaries, locked in a rivalry that has defined the contours of Guyana’s politics for generations. Like two ancient trees whose roots intertwine beneath the soil, they may appear opposed above the ground, but they remain inseparably bound beneath it.

This dynamic was set in motion long ago, when the split in the original People’s Progressive Party led to the birth of the PNC in 1957. Ever since, the country has witnessed an unending cycle of electoral skirmishes and political brinkmanship, with both sides wielding the full force of their historical grievances.

And yet, for all the hostility they display toward each other, there is a shared understanding between them: power in Guyana at any moment belongs to one of the two. Any force that threatens this duopoly is treated as an existential menace, to be neutralized through whatever means necessary. The ghost of the Democratic Labour Movement (DLM) in the 1980s still looms as a cautionary tale—an illustration of how the established parties, when faced with a genuine third-party challenge, are capable of uniting to crush such a threat before it gains traction.

Despite this enduring pattern, something new is stirring beneath the surface of Guyana’s politics. A different kind of fatigue has taken hold, one that extends beyond the usual electoral dissatisfaction. The working class is growing disenchanted—not just with one party or the other, but with the entire structure that has kept them in perpetual oscillation between the PPP and the PNC. This disillusionment is not the standard frustration that precedes every election; it is deeper, more fundamental. It is the realization that neither party has delivered the change that was promised, that corruption and cronyism persist regardless of who is in office, and that the proceeds of Guyana’s newfound oil wealth have not trickled down to those who need it most.

It is this disenchantment that explains the increasing popularity of fresh, unaligned faces—individuals who have not yet been tainted by the machinery of the traditional parties. Whether they emerge from business, activism, or civil society, they are viewed with curiosity, sometimes even with hope.

But hope is a fragile thing in politics, easily manipulated and often disappointed. Bharrat Jagdeo, the de facto architect of the PPP’s strategy, has been quick to dismiss the idea that popularity in society translates into electoral success. He has a point; Guyana’s history is littered with the remains of individuals that failed to translate social appeal into political power. The Justice For All Party serves as one such example—a party whose leader who could not convert popular appeal into electoral votes.

Yet, something about the current moment feels different. The young working-class elements of society—the very demographic that will shape Guyana’s future—are looking beyond the old political guard. They are searching for an alternative, not just in ideology, but in leadership. They are no longer satisfied with the binary choice between the PPP and the PNC, between the familiar promises and the well-worn disappointments. They are questioning the structure and the system itself, demanding not just different leaders, but a different kind of leadership. And in that demand lies the greatest threat to the traditional political order.

The PPP recognizes this, and it is panicking. A party that has long relied on its hold over the electorate, particularly in its strongholds, is now faced with the unsettling prospect that its support is not as unshakable as it once believed. The opposition PNC, too, must confront the reality that it is failing to capitalize on growing public frustration, instead appearing as an uninspired alternative rather than a credible challenger.

If there is one lesson from Guyana’s political history, it is that when both major parties feel threatened, they will set aside their differences and close ranks against a common enemy. Should an emerging force gain enough traction, it is not unthinkable that the PPP and PNC, longtime adversaries, would join forces to protect their shared monopoly on power.

The question, then, is whether the Guyanese people will allow history to repeat itself. Whether, faced with the inevitable onslaught of political vindictiveness – already evident – they will settle once again for the familiar, or whether they will demand something new, something genuinely transformative.

The young and the disenfranchised have shown an appetite for change, but appetite alone does not make a meal. For a new political force to succeed, it must be organized, disciplined, and, above all, prepared for the brutal reality of electoral combat in Guyana.

Change is never easy, and in Guyana, it is especially difficult. But there is something brewing in the political air, something that suggests the old order cannot remain unchallenged forever. The two-party dominance has endured for decades, but no structure, however solid, is immune to the slow erosion of public trust. The question is not whether Guyana’s politics will shift, but how long it will take—and whether, when the moment comes, the country will be ready to embrace it.

(Are Guyanese ready for change?)

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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• Bharrat Jagdeo, existential menace, Peeping Tom, People's National Congress, People's Progressive Party

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