AS Guyana moves toward another critical electoral cycle, the events that unfolded on Tuesday at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) serve as a stark reminder that the specter of electoral dysfunction continues to haunt our democracy.

The orchestrated walkout of opposition-appointed commissioners Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin, and Desmond Trotman from Tuesday’s GECOM meeting is political theatrics—it is a disturbing pattern of obstruction that has the potential to taint the integrity of the September 1, 2025 elections.

Citizens must be watchful and call all political players to account, for the scars of the 2020 electoral crisis are still raw, and we cannot permit the same machinations to undermine our democratic processes once more.

The failure of the opposition commissioners to discharge their constitutional responsibility bears a chilling similarity to shenanigans which marred Guyana’s 2020 elections.
Their inability to participate in discussions on the work plan for the 2025 elections, even after President Dr. Irfaan Ali set September 1 as the date for the elections, constitutes a troubling dereliction of duty at a critical juncture.

PPP-nominated GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj’s contention that opposition commissioners are trying to “derail the holding of General and Regional elections” cannot be dismissed as party rhetoric, but must be viewed against the backdrop of recent history when similar obstructionist manoeuvrings all but shattered our democracy.

The opposition’s argument that they were not consulted on the date of the election, cannot be the basis for their wholesale withdrawal from the electoral exercise.
The parallels to 2020 are unavoidable and deeply unsettling. In that fateful year, Guyana witnessed unprecedented electoral wrongdoing, with the APNU+AFC administration attempting to influence the outcome of the election.

It descended into a constitutional crisis which needed intervention from the international community, Caribbean prime ministers and several courts, before it was resolved.
The walkout by opposition commissioners sets a troubling precedent that can usher in further disruptions throughout the electoral process. Their intentional absence from meetings towards electoral preparedness is a disconcerting indication of their commitment to democratic engagement.

The opposition’s behaviour could force GECOM to operate its affairs in a state of constitutional emergency provisions, creating an atmosphere of dysfunction that can quite easily escalate into the type of crisis that overwhelmed Guyana in 2020.
Citizens must be made aware that electoral vigilance is not just about voting during Election Day. The pre-election process, like commission meetings, candidate registration, and logistical preparations, are also critical phases where democratic sabotage can occur.

Opposition commissioners’ complaints regarding compressed timetables and consultation deficiency, while possibly valid concerns, do not warrant their complete withdrawal from the process.
Rather, such complaints must be handled by constructive participation in the commission’s system. Their walkout simply denies them their power to shape these very processes they purport to care about, which leads one to think that obstruction, as opposed to constructive participation, is most likely their real goal.

As Guyana moves toward the September 1, 2025 elections, citizens need to insist on transparency, accountability, and good faith engagement by all political stakeholders. The opposition walkout on Tuesday cannot be allowed to define the tone for the rest of the electoral process.

Groups in civil society will need to be eternally vigilant, as will citizens and international observers, to prevent a repeat of the errors of 2020. Our democracy is too precious and too vulnerable to be taken hostage by political forces more focused on obstruction than on free and fair elections.

The moment for complacency has passed. Guyana’s democratic future hinges on our shared dedication to electoral integrity and our collective willingness to hold all stakeholders accountable for their behaviour in the forthcoming pivotal months.