Former GTU president Mark Lyte, rape accused Nigel Dharamlall on PPP’s list of candidates

Jul 15, 2025 News

Kaieteur News – Former president of the Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) Mark Lyte is a candidate on the People’s Progressive Party’s list of candidates for the general and regional elections.

Dr. Mark Lyte

Lyte came under severe criticism from public school teachers and sections of the society last year and was suspended by the GTU’s general council for signing a salary agreement with the government without the consent of the union’s negotiating team. The GTU was at the time at the centre of an industrial action, demanding better wages and salaries.

Lyte falls 54th on the list, with his occupation listed as minister of religion.

Former rape accused, PPP Executive Member Nigel Dharamlall

Cardio surgeon, Dr. Mahendra Carpen is also a candidate on the list. Appearing eighth is owner of Shally’s Seafood Restaurant Amjah Noor Hussain Shazaam Ally, a founding member of The Citizenship Initiative (TCI), a small party which contested the 2020 elections.

The PPP has seen several new comers, some of them being prominent persons in society as well as crossovers from other parties. Among the latter are former deputy speaker Dr. Asha Kissoon, former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Member James Bond, former Member of Parliament (MP) Lennox Shuman, and former PNC/R MP Geeta Chandan-Edmond.

Also on party’s list is rape accused former Local Government Minister, Nigel Dharamlall. Dharamlall was forced to resign as a minister back in 2023 after explosive allegations surfaced on him raping at least one schoolgirl. Though he had denied the allegations, the victim later withdrew the criminal complaint she had made against him to the police. Dharamlall would later go on to be elected on the PPP’s executive committee and has been spearheading the party’s campaign activities in the West Coast Berbice area. A printed statement to the media on behalf of the party said that the list is comprised of persons from all 10 administrative regions, with 40 per cent females surpassing the requirement of a 1/3 female presence.

“Significantly, it embraces persons from every age group in the country, balancing youth with maturity and experience, 27 persons on the list are below the age of 25, 16 between 26 and 40 years old and the remainder consisting of age 40 and above,” it said.

The statement relayed that the list is a reflection of the multi-ethnic nature of Guyana’s demography consisting of Afro-Guyanese, Indo-Guyanese, Amerindian, Mixed Race, Portuguese and Chinese. “It also reflects a presence from all the major religions of our country the list also mirrors Guyana’s class diversity and it captures persons from the working-class including sugar workers, rice farmers, miners and construction workers among others,” the statement added.

Additionally, there is a large number of professionals and “an appreciable contingent from the basis community.” This includes students, housewives and ordinary Guyanese.

“As we move forward together for a better Guyana, some of these candidates were introduced during our campaign launch yesterday and in the coming weeks, you will be meeting all of them across the country,” the statement concluded.

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Candidate list, Dharmlall, GTU, Mark Lyte

One thought on “Former GTU president Mark Lyte, rape accused Nigel Dharamlall on PPP’s list of candidates”

habeeb July 15, 2025 at 1:58 pm

Nigel Dharamlall already walking around with a label on his forehead for his
alleged past. Surely, there are many others without such labels that could
be chosen from a list.

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