VOTING PATTERN IN ALBION (Kilcoy – Hampshire)

Oct 01, 2025 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Further to my earlier correspondence on the 2025 elections where I discussed the Canje voting patterns, I wish to share some observations on voting patterns in the Albion area, specifically the communities spanning Kilcoy to Hampshire under that local NDC.

Historically, during President Cheddi Jagan’s tenure until his departure from this earth, this geographic area gave near-unanimous support to the PPP, with the party commanding up to 99% of the votes in the 1997 elections under Janet Jagan.

This district is of particular importance for the PPP, since this is one of their core strongholds backed by the jobs provided by the Albion Sugar Estate, both directly and indirectly. Given that only the PPP, (unlike the APNU Granger Term), has consistently invested in the sugar industry, it would have been expected that this support for the PPP would have remained strong and above 95% in 2025. But this was never to be, the 2025 results revealed a different story.

In 2015, the area recorded 4,434 valid votes. By 2025, that number rose to 5,179 valid votes, reflecting an increase of 745 valid votes cast. The breakdown is as follows:

Three developments stand out:

1. Decline in APNU+AFC support: In 2015, the coalition secured 2.5% of the votes, which weakened to 1.8% of the votes cast by 2025, in the Kilcoy to Hampshire area (Central Corentyne). These communities have historically been loyal to the PPP and largely resistant to the APNU+AFC’s message, save and except for a brief opportunity for the AFC in 2011. So it was expected that the APNU would have done very badly in these communities. Therefore, there was no shock with their diminished share to the total votes, which underscores this reality.  However, the popular expectation was all of these votes lost by the APNU would have gone to the PPP, but this did not happen.
2. Reduced PPP dominance: Despite investments in the sugar belt, the PPP’s share of the vote fell from 97.5% in 2015 to 88.5% in 2025—a nine-point decline. This situation raises real questions around the PPP’s narrative of a “landslide victory.” In these PPP strongholds, many youths have increasingly disengaged from the party and when one investigates the social troubles in these communities, it is with good reason. This disconnect is compounded by a marked increase in the lack of opportunities in these communities plus immense frustration of the people with the high levels of corruption at local and regional levels. Reports of a regional official carrying the nickname “Mr. 10%” for his alleged collection of kickbacks on each regional projects with full political coverage from a specific Minister who was born in Central Corentyne, add to the frustration of the youth voters.  Unless addressed, these cracks in the party’s base may widen further by 2030, with dire consequences.
3. The arrival of a credible third force: The new WIN party, formed just three months before the elections, managed to capture 9.7% of the vote in this PPP stronghold that is the home to Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and Minister Vickram Bharat. This remarkable performance suggests that WIN has tapped into a growing appetite for an alternative to both major parties and a clear rejection of Minister Mustapha and Minister Bharat.

The results suggest that while PPP’s investments may have increased voter turnout, they did not translate into stronger proportional support for the party. Voter dissatisfaction and disillusionment in Corentyne—especially among youths—are becoming more visible, even in this PPP strongholds. The numbers do not lie. The PPP vote share in Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne) reduced by 2,120 votes between 2020 and 2025, while the WIN Team gain 12,388 new votes in 2025. This performance begs the question – how popular is President Irfaan Ali with these Berbice communities?  The impact on the party standing in Central Corentyne guides one to the conclusion that it is not on solid grounds in these local areas as it used to be under Cheddi Jagan.

Looking ahead to 2030, one lesson is clear: reliance on state spending alone will not secure political loyalty. Greater attention must be paid to local governance and delivery at the NDC and RDC levels.  It might be wise to double the grants to the NDCs all across Guyana in the 2026 budget, to better ensure basic services such as garbage collection are effectively being done. Further, Minister Zulfikar Mustapha, and Minister Vickram Bharat, despite being from these areas, were not able to prevent voter rejection—even in their hometowns. Strategically, their presence on the campaign platform may have cost the PPP votes in Corentyne.

To regain lost ground, the PPP must demonstrate tangible progress on promises made during the campaign to ensure the benefits get down to the very local levels.  For example, for over a decade ago, the PPP and APNU has been promising the people of this local area that they will get a completed Belvedere Industrial Site.  The PPP went even further to tout this facility as a job incubator for the local people. While it has some functionality, as of today, it remains incomplete and has only created 54 jobs despite spending billions of dollars on this project since 2020. The youths are watching and are highly disenchanted because they know there are major financial leakage on this project and are asking where has all the money gone? Maybe the youths will have more trust, in Mr. Azruddin Mohamed from the WIN Party, to get this project done, if he gets into office in 2030.  Why?  He has a proven track record as a successful businessman.

WIN now has momentum and can gain further support from the PPP, as it continues to make unnecessary political mistakes by under-servicing these communities and by taking their strongholds for granted. The WIN Team’s challenge will be to consolidate support by building a strong technical team around their leadership sourced mainly from the New York and Toronto Diaspora, in light of possible discrimination emanating from the PPP locally. This technical team will serve the primary advisory role to shape budget analyses and continuously developing policy recommendations for publication as the Government in waiting.  If the WIN Team does a better job than the APNU at exposing the PPP Government, they stand a strong chance of deposing them at a free and fair elections. The WIN Team has a lot of responsibility and their performance in and outside Parliament will determine whether they are seen as a credible governing alternative in 2030, once President Ali exits the political stage.

Sincerely,

Surujdai Juglall

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• Albion, NDC, Surujdai Juglall, voting pattern

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