By Earl Bousquet

COVERING the coverage of Guyana’s 2025 General and Regional Elections was an interesting journalistic and observation exercise, as the continental Caribbean nation’s thousands of registered voters headed to polling stations across its 10 regions and three counties, to fill ballot boxes and decide who will govern the nation over the next five years.
Popular mainstream and social media coverage continually featured largely bold-faced, hard-nosed and unapologetically partisan courtship, in unique ways that, in many cases, required more questions be asked – and the answers also be questioned.
And people did that, in many ways — for similar and different reasons, but all within the context of a country where all elections are taken seriously and fought extra-hard by the nation’s two traditional mainstream parties, the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R).
On the last night of campaigning (Saturday, August 30), over 10,000 Netizens followed the ruling alliance’s final rally, during and after which social media influencers went all out to convince voters who to select, elect and reject.
The mainstream newspapers offered the usual mix of both measured and biased coverage, while many local commentators based overseas remained largely distant from local realities.
State TV concentrated on election-related public service broadcasting, highlighting helpful voting information and related messaging from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), with appeals for unity and against violence from spokespersons on the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC).
Aware that the rally was being carried live on TV channels and across social media platforms at home and abroad, speakers concentrated on reminding undecided voters — and opposition supporters — of the long list of the outgoing administration’s achievements and inviting them to vote to ensure ‘more and better.’
President, Dr Mohammed Irfaan Ali’s list of his administration’s achievements – fuelled by the nation’s five-year-old oil-and-gas energy boom — would read and sound like a fairytale wish for citizens in other smaller Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member-states, especially in island nations that still depend on taxes, loans and grants, to fund national development.
The PPP/C’s 2020 manifesto promises delivered included: $100,000 cash grants for every person in every household; elimination of income taxes; 50,000 new jobs; 53,000 new house lots; 67 new nursery, 45 primary and 47 secondary schools; 38,000 local scholarships; free education at the University of Guyana (UG); new four-lane highways, harbour bridges, ports and berths; increased food production and security; increases in pensioners and public assistance payments – and revival of the critical sugar, rice, mining and agricultural industries.
Guyana’s oil boom was handled by the last PPP/C administration in ways that made it the world’s fastest-growing oil-producing economy, and an attraction for international investors.
The President is also promising to use the nation’s increasing oil wealth to more than double investments in socio-economic projects that touch people at home, on the job and in communities.
He noted that the ruling alliance had effectively started erasing the nation’s traditional racial barrier, his administration’s demonstrated leadership and governance qualities, and the alliance having moved Guyana ‘from ordinary to extraordinary, as it plans ‘to make Guyana the smartest country and people in the world.’
President Ali called for voters to invest in continuity of the nation’s revival and renewal, ‘from a country that spent decades associated with extreme poverty, to becoming debt-free — and now posting prosperity.’
Pointing to positive rates of return on national investments under the two administrations led by ex-President Bharrat Jagdeo (2000 to 2011) and the last five years under the PPP/C, the President invited voters to simply ponder the better possibilities from a second term.
He urged non-PPP/C supporters to resist invitations to reject the election results beforehand and instead consider their own interests, as equal beneficiaries of his government’s national programmes and projects.
‘Our opponents actually inspire us to work to win their votes,’ President Ali said.
The PPP/C appealed for a substantial majority of the votes, so that, under the country’s Proportional Representation (PR) system, it could have enough of a safe majority in parliament to quickly legislate delivery of its ‘Agenda 2030’ manifesto promises.
So, did the voting majority respond positively to the President and the PPP/C’s appeal for a second term?
The alliance feels confident of victory, but observers are also keeping eyes on how they will have responded to the two major opposition challengers: the PNC-led APNU (A Partnership for National Unity) led by Aubrey Norton and the WIN (We Invest in Nationhood) led by billionaire gold magnate Azruddin Mohamed.
On election day – a national holiday – voters voted peacefully, with international observers from CARICOM, the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union (EU) and the Carter Center applauding the incident-free and stress-free national exercise.
GECOM was busy from Monday evening, denying opposition claims and allegations and condemning what it said was a false ‘Statement of Poll’ posted online by WIN — within an impossible minute after the polls ended.
But generally, electors praised the ease of the voting process – especially in Region Four including the capital, Georgetown — where tabulating and reporting ballot counts in 2020 saw the APNU illegally hold on to power for five months (March to August), until ruled out of order by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
Local press commentators and partisan social media influencers have stuck to their respective guns while following drips of early results, but the international press is already predicting results.
Following its coverage of the three final rallies on August 30, the UK’s ‘Guardian’ newspaper published an extensive Guyana election report headlined: ‘Guyana’s Irfaan Ali looks to ride oil boom to second presidential term.’
GECOM is expected to make a final declaration on Monday’s vote by Thursday, September 4. (end)

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.