IT’S just seven days until Guyana makes its decision, and the stakes have never been higher for our nation. Guyanese must choose which party has the best plan for our collective future over the next five years, and which party can be trusted to deliver on everything it has pledged.

Also, this election is about power, authority and control. This 2025 election is about making sound and intellectual choices that will inevitably divide or unite the country. So, as much as some Guyanese do not want to get involved in politics, they are already inextricably intertwined in it because politics influences the cost of living and standard of living, as well as all the socioeconomic factors that they complain about daily.

Whether they are just following the crowd and showing support for a party or person blindly or standing on principle after analysing the manifestos of different parties, or even have already decided which party they would support based on the party’s track record, the decision is not to be joked about. It’s serious business and not to be treated as a ‘merry mouse’ game.

A businessman-turned-politician and party that continues to ‘play in the public’s face’ is Azruddin Mohamed and the WIN party. Recently, a video clip surfaced with the presidential hopeful telling Guyanese at a Corriverton meeting that after the elections, if WIN loses, they will not accept the results.

“…Because we are not going to accept it. Listen to this carefully. We did not accept it because we did the numbers, and we know that we are leading in the polls, and they know it,” Mohamed said exactly.

Before this, WIN and Mohamed had gone into the hinterland and far-flung regions of our country.  He has played and toyed with the emotions of the electorate there, promising to bring change, hope and goodies to the people. The people, a large portion just curious, fell in line and rallied behind his campaign of misinformation and false promises.

Mohamed has even been using the name of Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP/C to try to paint himself as a victim who is being wronged and discriminated against. President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali is not spared from criticism when he goes to these underprivileged communities to campaign. Many of them are seeing him for the first time.

Mohamed has been making inroads in the strongholds of the opposition parties, APNU and AFC, or so it seems. WIN has an election machinery that is pieced together, again manned by the bottom feeders who are former APNU and AFC members, or so it would appear to the public.

He still refuses to deal with the damming allegations of gold smuggling, tax evasion, thuggery and other serious allegations that are hanging over his head, even at this ripe stage of the election cycle. In fact, the WIN campaign shields him and hides from the bona fide media corps because of Mohamed’s inability to answer difficult and critical questions on policy and economic issues. Questions are rarely put to Mohamed on domestic and foreign-‘policy issues. He has never debated any issue in public.

This is a show of cowardice and weak leadership on the part of the Mohameds, and exposes WIN for not being qualified to be a serious contender for government.

Mohamed appears set to continue to make a mockery of the public’s mood and desire for a third force in politics. He is ‘playing in their face’ every day and is throwing his wealth around, and becoming more and more emboldened and ‘force-ripe.’

Firstly, this election would not be playing out on the internet. So, it doesn’t matter how many likes and shares Mohamed and the WIN party muster up with fake pictures and doctored images. The carefully curated write-ups on the party’s candidates on social media are not only failing to connect with the masses, but are also an attempt at hiding them, as neither they nor their ideas are open to the scrutiny of the press and public.

The communication and PR are a disaster in the lead-up to the elections. Marketing WIN as a serious party is difficult. Providing entertainment from social media influencers, pages, and controversial figures isn’t exactly how the WIN party is hoping to win the elections. Using Drs Ali and Jagdeo’s names every time to whine about political discrimination isn’t going to secure any more votes or win the elections. It is reeking of obsession and desperation.

On  E-day, voters will make their decisions wisely and decisively because of what they have seen firsthand. They will decide whether to back a sanctioned businessman who has a rap sheet longer than his political career or someone with experience in government.

The truth is, Mohamed is bluffing his way through these elections. He cannot communicate ideas and has a set of criminal cases from which he is trying to escape prosecution. Point blank. And that is why the public will never get answers about his father, Nazar, going into the Venezuelan embassy.

Secondly, Mohamed does not care about the underprivileged communities and poorer classes of people in this country. The political candidate is using the public for likes. It is a pageant for him.

Just like a rich brat who gives a poor man some food or small change and then turns around to film or take a photo, the same thing Mohamed does, but with the public. He is prostituting the public and building up his profile.

Many times, he ventures to places where he is not welcome. His team takes the photos and pressures the people into discussing the issues they have with him, and posts them to social media. This is creating the impression that he has support.

After all, Guyanese do not mind and will let him believe that they will vote for him. Let’s be clear, nobody takes Mohamed seriously, and nobody ever will after he loses these elections. The elections will be lost, judging from the quality of the campaign. The opposition has far better candidates than him to deliver the so-called change they are desperately seeking.

Thirdly, Mohamed seems to be threatening violence because he is busy planning not to accept the election results. This is not the first time that he and others have hinted at this.

GECOM and the Joint Services need to zoom in on the potential threat. Mohamed is dangerous because he is popular and foolish. Foolishness, when mixed up with desperation, has a toxic and chilling outcome. Remember how Mohamed and others worked behind the scenes to cause chaos and mayhem by invoking the scrapes to make Guyana ungovernable during the Adriana Younge controversy.

This is a man who lacks confidence, and the police should be prepared for the worst. The police should not be caught by surprise because he will be engaged in some form of protest.

The APNU and AFC know they are not going to win either.  They will try to influence some form of public disorder and unrest. Mohamed has the money to fund this. Take no chances with him or the social media clan. They have nothing to lose.

Fourthly, despite rushing to put together a manifesto of plans, Mohamed still does not have the intellectual competence and ability to lead Guyana.

Mohamed, nine days to the polls, cannot adumbrate policies relating to poverty reduction, wealth creation, prosperity, and governance. He doesn’t have it in him.

Mohamed should be challenged to a public debate.  The media must insist on hearing from Mohamed in a place where he is neither campaigning nor can slip away. The public deserves this and should pressure the candidate to provide a detailed description of his vision for Guyana.

He will bob and weave or run! He is clueless and ignorant about many things that he can’t relate to, such as poverty, taxes, and living conditions. He only pretends to suddenly care about the people. He pretends to show concern about the issues and engages in fake charity work and humanitarian efforts.

Mohamed is more concerned about leading the billionaire and Cadillac lifestyle in Guyana, as was evident several years ago, back when the sanctions were not imposed. He was living the lifestyle of the rich. The corruption he now speaks of was nonexistent then, and the people he is now against, he was close to then.

This is selective outrage and dementia showing up in Mohamed’s campaign. He is Guyana’s poster boy for duplicitous standards, double standards and hypocrisy.

Finally, do not take the gamble with Mohamed or anyone who does not show a clear vision for Guyana.

Guyana’s future is at stake, and while it is good to have a laugh and hype, remember one must be careful, sober and serious when thinking about one’s future. No sanctioned businessman can run this country. And, no criminal or would-be criminal could undo the wave of socioeconomic change taking place now.

If one thinks the APNU, PNC, AFC and the PPP are bad for Guyana, then the Mohameds are triple times worse. They cannot be trusted with political power and influence.  They do not have the experience, knowledge or competence to lead Guyana at this time in our country’s history. They are like a clan of desperate hyenas seeking power to save their skins. They know which way the wind is blowing, but are seeking to contain the storm that will hit this US-sanctioned criminal enterprise that is run by the Mohameds.

Mohamed is in a last-ditch exercise to seek cover with the elections. He is playing in the public’s face. He is a ‘merry mouse’ politician and not the ‘real McCoy.’  He couldn’t care less about the public’s skin. A vote for WIN is a wasted vote, as no change will come from it — only disaster and risks.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.