Dear Editor,
GUYANA stands today at the crossroads of immense opportunities. Given the buoyancy in our economy, Guyana’s rising global relevance, and the strategic vision as outlined in the People’s Progressive Party/Civic’s 2025 Manifesto, Guyana is poised for another wave of unprecedented social and economic transformation. Yet, unlike most countries across the globe that are grappling with economic headwinds, the greatest threat to our continued progress is not economic or financial, but political. The imminent regional and national elections scheduled for September 1, 2025, risk being hijacked by visionless politicians who have mastered the art of inciting fear, sowing division, and disrupting development.
History offers sobering reminders of how elections were weaponised in Guyana to create economic, political, and social instability. The 1992 and 1997 elections are painful examples that are etched into our national memory and impossible for anyone who lived through those elections to forget. The 1992 elections, delayed to sanitise the voter list and certified free and fair by international observers, were nonetheless followed by riots in Georgetown. Rumours of disenfranchisement by the People’s National Congress (PNC), which had formed the government at the time, poisoned the atmosphere and sparked violent riots.
The 1997 elections were also marred by unrest, even though international observers declared these elections to be ‘free and fair’. Unfortunately, the then-opposition, the PNC, fuelled the unrest by launching the infamous “slow fyah, more fyah” campaign, which sought to make the country ungovernable. Unlike the 1992 election riots, the unrest that followed the 1997 elections continued for years, forcing constitutional reforms and fresh elections by 2006. Although elections in 2011 and 2015 were more peaceful, the scars from 1992 and 1997 remain, and worrying signs suggest some politicians are preparing to deploy these destructive tactics once again.
Already, some opposition politicians are echoing the rhetoric of the past. The age-old allegations of a “padded voters list” are being constantly peddled by some politicians, notwithstanding the opportunity provided by GECOM for anyone to remove ineligible electors from the Official List of Electors during the recently concluded claims and objections exercise. Meanwhile, the leader of a newly formed political party has gone so far as to claim that her supporters will be disenfranchised if her party’s symbol does not appear on the ballot paper. Further, the leader of the main opposition has openly threatened to “behave bad” if the results are not in favour of his party. These antics/pronouncements are not merely acts of democratic dissent; they are deliberate strategies to delegitimise the electoral process in advance.
Editor, I am concerned that the 2025 elections may be weaponised because the aforementioned antics/pronouncements bear a striking resemblance to those that preceded the 1992 and 1997 elections. Importantly, these antics/pronouncements are being made to lay the groundwork for post-election unrest. It is widely anticipated that the PPP/C will win the 2025 elections handsomely, and I am fearful that the divisive politicians in our midst may resort to violence when the results are declared. It is a replay of the past, a dangerous cycle of sore-loser politics where divisive politicians resort to violence instead of accepting electoral defeat.
Editor, Guyana cannot afford any form of instability at this juncture in our history. Every responsible Guyanese must therefore act with clarity and conviction and reject these visionless politicians who thrive on division, sow discord, and have every intention of derailing our hard-earned development for personal gain.
As we approach the 2025 elections, we must also demand that these visionless politicians respect the will of the people when the results are declared. Importantly, we need to send a clear and loud signal that, as responsible citizens, we will defend our democracy, protect our progress, and move forward as ‘One Guyana’ – united, resolute, and unshaken.
Sincerely,
Kevin Persaud