Post-election review – Tacuma Ogunseye

Sep 17, 2025 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I have written three letters on matters related to the 2025 General and Regional Elections. Now that the elections are over, I am returning to the subject to share my take on the outcome with the nation.

To make my present task easier, and to be frank with readers, let me state up front what I did not expect as possible outcomes in the elections. These are, the low voter turnout, the WIN party replacing APNU as the main parliamentary opposition with a huge margin, and the PPP’s four-seat majority. I expected a close finish between APNU and the PPP, with WIN in third place. That was my best judgment.

I now return to the main focus of the letter. Fair and free elections boiled down to the following: (1) voter participation (2) a level playing field (3) a credible voters list, (4) a non-partisan election commission; (5) restrictions on the spending of the incumbent (6) parties’ organization not only at election period but through-out the five years span; (7) money; (8) a resistance culture; (9) the absence of vote buying; and (10) the inevitable influence of external forces on the population and the election actors. All these factors shaped the election outcome. Beyond the issues already mentioned, the support of sections of the African population for WIN and PPP stemmed from years of economic hardship and desperation, rather than from any embrace of multi-racial politics, as some claim. It also reflected frustration with the opposition’s failure to practice resistance politics, especially the APNU, the main force within the opposition. Of equal importance was the failure of the African collective to turn the (2023) Local Government Elections into an African and Guyanese uprising to achieve its political objectives. The PNC fought to preserve political space but failed to grasp the limits of that strategy. They ignored the obvious reality: a political uprising would have prevented the government from reshaping the composition of the local bodies. By taking the position they did, the PNC played directly into the hands of the PPP and its internal and external allies. In the end, they forced the PNC/APNU and the African community into elections under conditions that guaranteed its defeat. Since our community was not “battle-ready”, we needed a major pre-election struggle to energise the base and to allow the young generation voters to experience our collective strength. We failed to do so.  Instead, we entered the elections with our collective weakness, which negatively affects our base. Unfortunately, it produced a disastrous outcome.

The issue of why there was no APNU/AFC coalition was a major concern for the opposition base. This failure negatively impacted the opposition, leading to voter apathy and, more importantly, a shift in support to the WIN party.

The WIN party and its leader have to quickly translate their tremendous success into effective political capital or lose it. This is not an easy task with an entrenched PPP majority in the parliament. In the new parliament, the opposition is in a worse position than in the last parliament. Their presence will only legitimise the claim that Guyana is a multi-party parliamentary democracy if they fail to push for meaningful change. Politically, WIN has already lost the first round. They missed the opportunity to rally supporters in the streets to back their claims of either winning the election or being cheated. Instead, they have done nothing, and frustration is spreading within their ranks. Many supporters, whose backing is more transactional than ideological, see the decision not to mobilize as a loss of bread – and – butter income.

These individuals had placed their hopes in WIN to address their economic and social hardships. Now that reality has set in, WIN’s ability to function as an effective opposition with grassroots support is likely to collapse sooner than expected. Mohamed cannot continue to spend the huge sums of money he spent on the elections. His objective/commitment to doing so was to avoid jail time in the US. Having achieved that objective, overachieving politically, and winning 16 seats, there is no incentive for him to continue to spend the family’s financial resources as he had done. Given the challenges, it is likely WIN will do worse than APNU in the last parliament.

Politically, WIN and the PPP have to either reconcile their differences and return to their historic alliance or turn their differences into a permanent, divisive struggle. In realpolitik terms, the PPP has the upper hand; it needs nothing from WIN. On the other hand, if WIN is to succeed, it needs to be given space in parliament by the PPP to help it be seen as an effective opposition. Realpolitik doesn’t allow the PPP that option; they will see helping WIN as self-destructive, and not in their interest. They will rather back-door PPP/WIN collaboration outside the public eye. Faced with these challenges, going forward, WIN will have to decide whether it has meaningful parliamentary leverage – or better off investing in street protests and resistance to keep its base and be politically relevant. It was this dilemma that faced the APNU/AFC, and they were found wanting.

The outcome of the elections is that Africans objectively contributed to their own domination. In WPA public meetings, in support of the APNU election campaign, we pointed out that the elections were about national issues and the future of the African community. I argue that while the nation’s interest will be addressed, there is no guarantee that African interests will be addressed. Our logic was clear; all the contesting parties had no explicit commitment to African interests to the extent required, except for the WPA. The election results demonstrated the profound crisis in the African community that cut across all sectors: political, social, economic, religious, cultural and the youth. Africans’ contribution to their own domination vindicates the UN observation in its advocacy in the Decade for People of African Descent, that the historical damage from transatlantic slavery on our people and communities leaves us vulnerable and unprepared to deal with the survival challenges.

As a community, we must confront the reality of the election outcome and engage in serious self-criticism, both privately and publicly. While the results represent our collective failure and responsibility, it would be wrong to let those most accountable escape scrutiny. Avoiding blame where it is due is counterproductive, given the gravity of the situation. The younger generation of politicians, especially those who broke away from the APNU to form their own parties, chose to support a potential minority government, a decision that exposed their political immaturity.

This reflects a failure to grasp the historical moment and the transformative impact that oil will have on the country.

In conclusion, I ask these young generation politicians on which planet they are living on with their split vote advocacy? Our destiny lies in the much-postponed struggle to change the governance system in the country, ending winner-take-all politics but the election results are a setback to that line of struggle. We are now in money-takes-all politics.

Yours sincerely,

Tacuma Ogunseye

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• APNU, election review, GECOM, Tacuma Ogunseye, WIN Party

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