2025 election takeaways

Sep 15, 2025 Letters

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Dear Editor,

The 2025 general election has left us with so much to chew on. Unquestionably, the most salient outcome is the drastic defeat suffered by APNU. The catastrophic drop from 31 seats in 2020 to 12 in 2025 confirms the sense of an emasculated opposition which APNU has presented for some time. The spate of defections in the run-up to the election was a sign of things to come.

Then there’s the meteoric rise of WIN. In just a few months, this party came from nothing to win 16 seats and snatch the position of lead Opposition in the National Assembly. This underlines APNU’s failure in holding on to outdated narratives and not connecting meaningfully and energetically with what matters to the public currently. There were six parties in the election, but this was really a three-horse race.

WIN must be complimented for its organizstion and execution against the concentrated attentions of the ruling party and private sector establishment. Its performance, though, confirms a belief I have long held that there is a strong constituency for change in this country. Every time a new political movement arises, it immediately gets a following. We saw this with the Rodney phenomenon in the 1970s, and when the AFC came on the scene in 2005, they won five seats just a year later. WIN follows that pattern. AFC’s current position is a lesson for WIN. The honeymoon is soon over. You have to perform and keep faith with your supporters and the wider public.

The desire for change reflects a constituency of dissatisfaction with Guyana’s political conditions that is just waiting for a vehicle to get aboard. A sign that this remains the case is the drop in the turnout at the polls from 70 percent in 2020 to 58 percent in 2025. Notwithstanding the enlarged voter register, I believe this turnout decline is significant. Indeed, the number of voters declined by five percent. Based on casual observation, it appears that young people stayed away from the polls on the East Bank, Demerara, where I was a local election observer. I don’t know how widespread this was. Hopefully, GECOM will release figures that will allow analysis of whether this was indeed the case. This would be very concerning, if confirmed. A pessimistic outlook fed by dissatisfaction and confusion among young people in this oil-rich nation about the state of politics is a clamor for change. The future agenda must be guided by a need for response.

GECOM must be congratulated for executing an efficient operation and the Guyanese public for a peaceful and orderly election. The large presence of overseas observation teams and media outlets was conspicuous. One overseas photographer I spoke to explained the enhanced interest in one word—oil. While recognising the peaceful, well-run election, the observers almost unanimously also commented on the massive abuse of the incumbency advantage of the ruling PPP/C, resulting in an election playfield that was not level. Predictably, the Private Sector Commission’s observer statement did not independently find this matter worthy of concern. The large scale of government investments and social programs (cash grants, etc.), media control and use of social media outlets, and alleged pressure on government employees were cited. The scale of the abuse of the incumbency advantage is reminiscent of alleged Burnham-era acts of election fraud. The observers stressed the urgent need for reform of regulations governing campaign financing, media access for political parties and other aspects to enhance election fairness.

Inevitable questions arise about what we can expect over the next five years. Will the PNCR recover or does this defeat sound its death knell? It is not uncommon for political parties to make a strong comeback. How will WIN perform? What new agenda and approaches will it bring? What alliances will emerge for the conduct of business in this three-party Parliament? This period can be transformative in the way politics is conducted. Constitutional change that has been initiated with the establishment of the Constitution Reform Commission must take center stage. GECOM must be reformed, along with the election regulations as mentioned. As the Carter Center’s Jason Calder pointed out at their post-election press conference, democracy depends largely on what happens between elections. In all of this, civil society must be prepared to play a critical role. It does not matter what political party you belong to. CSOs must recognise their responsibility and pursue it aggressively. And entities that have an interest in a stable and prosperous future for this nation must give substantive support.

Sincerely,

Dr. Desmond Thomas

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• 2025 election, APNU, Dr. Desmond Thomas, takeaways

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