Dear Editor,

Several writers have claimed that there has been an erosion of democracy in Guyana particularly during the PPP/C’s current term in office (2020-2025).
The Guyana Press Association (GPA) allege, for example, that freedom of expression under the PPP/C administration is being threatened. The PPP/C believes that much of the criticism emerges because they (PPP/C) has been refuting “fake” or distorted news. Any government, including the PPP/C, has the right to challenge distorted news or misinformation, but such responses must not be construed as attempts to discredit the press.

Nevertheless, the critics’ case is buttressed by reports of Transparency Institute of Guyana (TIGI) whose findings, however, are disputed by the PPP/C Government.
TIGI awarded Guyana a low score of 39 on the 2024 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which is below the regional average of 42 and it (Guyana) ranks 92 out of 180 countries.

TIG notes: “In Guyana, state capture by economic and political elites fosters misappropriation of resources, illicit enrichment, and environmental crime…. transparency and law enforcement are very low and attacks on dissenting voices, activists, and journalists increasingly common.”
The PPP/C rejected these findings and said that they are not based on any credible evidence.

Another source of support for critics’ position on erosion of democracy is an organisation called the V-Dem Institute. Mr. Edward Burrowes says that Guyana has been moving since 2018 towards “autocratisation” (a political situation in which power is highly concentrated in one person who also suppresses dissent).
Based on his interpretation of the findings of the V-Dem Institute, he accuses the PPP/C Government of “trying to stifle the emergence of third parties and freedom of expression.”

Had Mr Burrowes conducted a critical review of V-Dem’s methodology, he would have recognised why Guyana received lower scores on three (Egalitarian Components, Participatory Components, Deliberative Components) of the six metrics (the other three being Liberal Democracy, Electoral Democracy, Liberal Components).
Though quantitative and qualitative data show that Guyana has out-performed most CARICOM states in at least three of the six metrics (‘Egalitarian’, ‘Participatory’ and ‘Deliberative’ Components) it still received lower scores than the other electoral democracies.

There is an abundance of data over the past four years (2020-2024) on how the PPP/C government has revolutionised the democratic process by taking government to the people on a weekly basis to every village in every region of the country.

The PPP/C solicits citizens’ views on the development of its manifesto as well as on development priorities for their communities. These initiatives are reflected in the egalitarian, the deliberative, and the participatory components of Guyana’s electoral democracy. Yet Guyana has been scored below countries whom it out-performed on these metrics!

To understand, therefore, why Guyana received lower scores than other CARICOM states, one must know how the six metrics are computed and rated by the 30 experts (20 local and 12 overseas).

We asked V-Dem to name the local experts, but they declined: “We do not reveal the identity of our country experts and preserve country expert confidentiality according to a strict policy.”

In the interest of transparency, accountability, and good governance, shouldn’t Guyanese know the names of the local “experts”? We need to know what data they provide to V-Dem. Have they ever provided any IMF or World Bank data on Guyana’s favourable economic performance?

Economic prosperity could only flow from a good democratic foundation, including freedom of expression. The IMF (March 2025 report) highlights various positive economic indicators such as an average GDP growth rate of 47 percent between 2022-2024; a projection of growth rate of an average of 14 percent for the next five years; while the non-oil sector would grow on average by 6.75 percent during the same period. The fiscal budget deficit would narrow from 7.3 percent to of GDP in 2024 to five percent of GDP in 2025.

Shouldn’t we know if any favourable data on Guyana has been sourced by V-Dem and other organisations like TIG?

While we condemn corruption; any form of criminal activity; and sluggish law enforcement; we do not find in Guyana any verifiable evidence that the PPP/C government is suppressing freedom of expression, an essential foundational principle of democracy. Instead, what stifles freedom of expression and democracy is “fake” news, misinformation, and the extant Defamation Act and the 2018 Cybercrime Act. Just think about it!
Sincerely,
Dr Tara Singh