WITH 570,787 Guyanese registered to cast their ballots tomorrow, May 11, Presidential Candidate of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, Brigadier (re’d) David Granger on Friday revealed his expectation of a 58-62% victory, which would not only oust the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), but will also secure a majority in the National Assembly. This disclosure was made at the coalition’s weekly press conference held on Friday at their campaign headquarters, Crown Street, Queenstown.
According to Granger, an expected additional 7-10% of votes at this year’s election, coupled with the 51% the then combined opposition (APNU and AFC) would have received in 2011, would pave the way to secure not just a victory at the polls, but a majority in the National Assembly.
But one hurdle which the APNU+AFC must leap is that of the uncommitted voter population. To this end, Granger related that from studies which the coalition would have seen, it has been discovered that there is a large uncommitted voter population.

Despite a 72% voter turnout last election, the optimistic Presidential Candidate boasted that, “it is our view that we will be able to tap into that uncommitted voter population.”
This contention was held by Granger because of the coalition’s “interaction in all 10 regions with the people” and by extension, the Diaspora, which they consider has given them more political mileage than the PPP.
But political pundits and organisations have expressed their concerns regarding the non-acceptance of the election results by supporters and parties, should the results not favour them.
The latest episode of this surfaced yesterday morning when Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Ramesh Persaud expressed, on behalf of the PSC that, “We are concerned about parties willingness to accept the results at the end of the elections.”
He further added that, “based on where we [PSC] sit right now, it is not our understanding that both political parties are prepared for a loss.”
Vice-Chairman of the PSC, Edward Boyer, also seized the opportunity to urge Guyanese to “stay away from violence”, adding that when the elections are over, the nation still has to exist.
Additionally, the Carter Centre has already raised concerns about the acceptance of the results. Director of the Carter Center’s Democracy Program, David Carroll, has also expressed the view that, “This election is likely to be very competitive…depending on the quality of the electoral process, there might be reluctance to accept the results. It will be an important test for Guyana and its people.”
Against this backdrop, criticisms have followed Granger’s announcement of a 58-62% win at the polls, which, some are contending, was “irresponsible” on his part and can result in reluctance by supporters, to acceptance the results, should it not favour the coalition.
But Rupert Roopnaraine, leader of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a faction of the APNU, also explained that, “We have said to the observers that barring flagrant violations of the electoral laws and best practices on elections day, we can see no reason at this present time why we would find any difficulty in accepting the results.”
On the flip side however, he added that there is such a “surge of hope” among the people that if they detect that there are deliberate attempts to frustrate the will of the electorate, then he fears that “the people are going to be very difficult to restrain.”