Forward Guyana Movement given 3 days to re-submit party symbol

Jul 03, 2025 News

Kaieteur News- The newly formed political coalition, Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), has been granted three days to resubmit a rectified version of its party symbol after the original submission failed to meet approval standards set by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

Opposition-nominated commissioner, Vincent Alexander, confirmed the development with Kaieteur News on Wednesday.

His clarification followed a statement issued by GECOM on Tuesday evening, which noted that symbols for 19 of the 22 parties seeking to contest the September 1, 2025, general and regional elections have been approved.

Forward Guyana Movement given 3 days to re-submit party symbol

(from left) Co leaders of the Forward Guyana Movement, Nigel Londen, Amanza Walton- Desire and Dorwin Bess

According to GECOM, the remaining three symbols were pending final approval, contingent upon “minor modifications”. One of those pending symbols belongs to the Forward Guyana Movement, a coalition co-led by Amanza Walton-Desir (Forward Guyana), Nigel London (The People’s Movement), and Dorwin Bess (Vigilant Political Action Committee – V-PAC). The Guyana United Party (GUP) and the People’s Republic Front (PRF) were also among parties whose symbols were listed as “To Be Decided” (TBD).

Shortly after GECOM’s press release, members of the Forward Guyana Movement expressed frustration, claiming they had not been informed beforehand that their symbol was under review. The announcement came just hours after the coalition publicly launched its new symbol and campaign.

During a live broadcast on Nigel London’s personal Facebook page later that evening, Walton-Desir and Bess discussed the issue and criticised GECOM’s handling of the matter and questioned if the party’s symbol was rejected. Walton-Desire questioned the transparency of the commission, noting that The People’s Movement’s symbol was previously approved for local government elections.

“They have a problem with the Forward Guyana (FG) sign with our symbol in the wheel and they have a problem with The People’s Movement. They do not want anything affecting the outline of the map,” she said.

“The People’s Movement has had an approved symbol from the last local government elections. The Forward Guyana symbol… is of recent vintage. So, it appears as though GECOM is making this up as it goes along and there are clearly problems there. I don’t understand how a public release could go out and this should essentially be a private issue between GECOM and the parties. So one would expect that GECOM would write to us, indicate that these are the concerns, we have them addressed and then we move forward but to release this, the evening of the launch… suggests to me that it is an attempt to put a damper on the events of today (Tuesday), it is irresponsible, it is prejudicial, and it caused a lot of anxiety,” Walton-Desir said.

In response, Commissioner Alexander clarified that the FGM’s symbol was conditionally approved—specifically due to inaccuracies in its depiction of the map of Guyana.

“Forward Guyana’s symbol is one which requires compliance with the portrayal of the map of Guyana. The symbol has been approved subject to the true portrayal of the map of Guyana. That symbol has three maps that differ,” Alexander said.

He added that the coalition has been given three days to make the necessary adjustments.

“It has the fiat of the commission once it rectifies its portrayals,” he confirmed.

The Forward Guyana Movement now faces a tight deadline to amend and resubmit its symbol in compliance with GECOM’s guidelines in order to qualify for participation in the upcoming elections.

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Forward Guyana Movement, Guyana Elections Commission, Kaieteur News, parties, People’s Movement.

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