Jagdeo’s relationship with contradiction is a work of art

Oct 07, 2025 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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There are few spectacles more wondrous than Bharrat Jagdeo explaining numbers. Watching him analyse elections is like watching a magician pull a rabbit out of a hat, only to later insist that the hat produced the rabbit on its own. It’s fascinating, bewildering, and leaves you wondering whether logic took a vacation to Suriname.

At his latest press conference, the Vice President declared that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had triumphed by a landslide in the 2025 elections. We can hardly argue with that. But the real question is why.

Jagdeo had commenced the presser by asserting that the elections’ campaign was over. But. he noted, many in the media were waging a campaign against the PPPC. He insisted that “we” – meaning the PPPC–were not going to pay any attention to them. But then he went and did the exact opposite.

Like a man insisting he’s not angry while punching a wall, he launched into a tirade against the media, particularly Stabroek News, which he accused of vile editorialising. In particular, he highlighted an editorial of the Stabroek News which was titled “Elections 9,161” and proceeded to dissect some numbers.

Now, to be fair, Jagdeo and numbers have always had a complicated relationship. During his presidency, he treated the economy the way a toddler treats a xylophone. He hit all the wrong keys but was impressed by the noise. So, it should surprise no one that his interpretation of electoral math has now entered the same surreal dimension.

According to the Vice President’s calculations, the PPP/C 46,000 secured more votes than the combined opposition. That sounds impressive until you remember that in politics, as in dieting, numbers can be deceiving. The PPP/C didn’t balloon in popularity; it merely expanded into the empty space left by the opposition’s disappearing voters.

Let’s put it another way. Imagine running a race against someone who decides halfway through to stop for a snow cone. Yes, you finished ahead. But was it because you sprinted or because your opponent developed a sudden craving for syrup and ice?

The truth—pesky as it always is—shows that the PPP/C improved its tally by 9,161 votes compared to 2020. The combined opposition, on the other hand, managed to shed an impressive 35,000. Jagdeo’s euphoria is like inheriting an empty house and bragging that you “won” the neighbourhood.

And let’s not ignore Region 4 which is the political battleground where ballots go to test one’s blood pressure. This time around, 21,000 fewer people voted there than in 2020. The combined opposition’s vote count in the region dropped by 28,000. Meanwhile, the PPP/C eked out a modest improvement, going from 80,920 to 87,536 votes. If that’s a tidal wave of support, then a puddle must be the Atlantic Ocean.

But Jagdeo’s genius doesn’t stop there. He pointed proudly to the party’s “percentage gains” in North and South Georgetown, traditional opposition strongholds. This is where the magic trick gets good. The PPP/C, he argued, made impressive inroads into these areas. What he failed to mention was that the only reason their percentages rose was because so many opposition voters stayed home, perhaps watching cricket, perhaps avoiding the line of duty at the ballot box.

It’s the kind of statistical alchemy that could make even Einstein weep. Imagine declaring that you’re now twice as popular because the other guy’s supporters all went fishing. It’s like bragging that you’ve become the best restaurant in town after every other chef closed shop and migrated.

And yet, Jagdeo’s confidence is unshakable. His press conference style is something between a university lecture and a stand-up act performed in front of a very nervous audience. He oscillates between outrage and self-congratulation like a man playing both good cop and bad cop to himself.

Jagdeo’s relationship with contradiction is a work of art. If irony had a face, it would wear a red tie and be holding a bar chart upside down.

And yet, there is a strange beauty in his logic. To Jagdeo, the absence of opposition voters is not apathy or disillusionment. It is a silent endorsement of the PPP/C. By this reasoning, if voter turnout drops to zero next election, the PPP/C could claim a 100% victory. Democracy would be declared triumphant, even if no one showed up to participate.

Still, let’s give credit where it’s due. Securing 55% of the vote is not insignificant. It’s just that, like most of Jagdeo’s economic miracles, it’s built on sand. When the opposition’s base stays home and your own turnout dips only slightly less, the result says more about fatigue than enthusiasm. It’s less a wave of support and more a collective shrug of the electorate.

But don’t tell Jagdeo that. He’s a man who can turn defeat into defiance and arithmetic into art. In his world, fewer people voting for you means growing popularity, and fewer people voting at all means you’ve unified the nation.

So, when he next appears before the press with another round of his miracle mathematics, let us not mock. Let us marvel. For in a region where politics often defies logic, Jagdeo has done the impossible: he’s made mathematics philosophical.

And if you ever find yourself confused by his numbers, just remember this is the same man who once made a national economy look prosperous by lowering expectations. Compared to that, turning an opposition’s no-show into a historic victory is child’s play.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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• Bharrat Jagdeo, Elections, Peeping Tom, PPP/C, Vice President

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