New Amsterdam and its voting pattern

Sep 26, 2025 Letters

---

Dear Editor,

The 2025 elections were extremely instructive, and I strongly recommend that the University of Guyana’s Statistics Department consider undertaking a project to evaluate the results, box by box, over the last three election cycles to explain to the Guyanese public this political evolution happening in Guyana. Such an analysis at the micro-level is necessary to help us better understand the trends that are quietly reshaping Guyana’s political landscape.

While the PPP is celebrating its victory of 36 seats, the results warrant a closer examination. Once the examination is done, the PPP would recognise that these 2025 elections offered them a pyrrhic victory, as they have clearly decode the silent damage done to them by the WIN party.

Let us begin with those voters who refused to exercise their franchise. A significant portion of the electorate effectively protested by abstaining from voting. This silent bloc—estimated between 21,000 and 22,000 citizens, roughly equivalent to four parliamentary seats—could prove decisive in 2030 when they come out to vote.  Electoral practice informs that very few voters stays away from two consecutive elections.  Thus the 2030 elections have even more surprises than the 2025 elections when that silent bloc goes to the poll.

Unless the PPP or APNU succeed in re-engaging these disenchanted voters, then there a real opportunity for other political forces, namely Ms Amanza Walton and her Forward Movement, Mr. A. Mohamed and his WIN Group or even a brand-new group that includes credible and progressive Guyanese. The eventual re-entry of these protest voters into the political process in 2030 will shape the future balance of power.

The central question: What strategies are PPP and APNU developing to appeal to this group?

On this note, there is a story to be told about New Amsterdam and it deserves attention. As Guyana’s oldest town, founded in the late 18th century, it holds lasting political significance. With its strong Afro-Guyanese population, it was long a PNC stronghold and produced notable politicians, such as Mr. William Oscar Rudyard Kendall, who represented the area independently in 1947 and later for the NDP and UDP before joining the PNC. PNC and its coalitions dominated New Amsterdam politics for most of these years—until now.

For context, in the 2016 Local Government Elections, the APNU+AFC coalition (largely PNC-led) secured 76% of the vote in New Amsterdam (see table below). By 2025, however, that share collapsed to 29%, amounting to just 2,477 votes. This represents a staggering 62% decline in popular support in New Amsterdam for the PNC-led Coalition over a decade.

While it would be unfair to hold Mr. Aubrey Norton solely responsible for this erosion of the popular vote in New Amsterdam in favour of the PNC, since the decline has been unfolding for years with poor national representation from Congress Place.  However, as the current leader under whose watch the collapse became undeniable, he will be held accountable by the party members. Thus, it was commendable on his party that he chose not to serve in the National Assembly.

The PPP, by contrast, increased its share of the New Amsterdam vote by approximately 39%. Yet even this does not fully explain the electoral shift that has happened in that Berbice town. Remarkably, a new entrant—the WIN Party—garnered 2,537 votes in New Amsterdam, despite being only three months old at the date of the elections.

The lesson from the 2025 elections is clear: New Amsterdam has become a swing constituency, a “swing state” in American terms. Whoever prevails there gains a critical pathway to national victory. The PPP, under Mr. Bharat Jagdeo’s leadership, now governs and will have approximately $7 trillion to spend on programs over the next five years. If the PPP hopes to retain power in 2030, strategic investments such as the Berbice River Bridge, the Palmyra Stadium, and the broader rejuvenation of New Amsterdam and the Berbice River region (from Mara to New Amsterdam) are now mandatory.  The paved road must be completed to Mara, along with all associated bridges.

Notwithstanding the financial advantage of the PPP, the 2025 electoral results revealed that after spending approximately $4 trillion during the 2020-2025 term, they (the PPP) lost 2,120 votes in East Berbice – Corentyne (Region 6) between 2020 and 2025, while the WIN Party gained 12,388 votes in East Berbice – Corentyne (Region 6) during the same period.

This reality confirms that Berbice and catchment areas like New Amsterdam are critical to the 2030 elections.  No party serious about winning in 2030 can afford to ignore New Amsterdam.

Sincerely,

Surujdai Juglall

---

• Guyana’s political landscape, Guyana’s Statistics Department, New Amsterdam, PPP, voting pattern

---