— AG cautions against complacency, questions whether APNU, PNC has learnt from electoral controversy

ATTORNEY GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, has said that Guyana cannot be assured that it will never again experience attempts to rig elections, arguing that the events surrounding the 2020 General and Regional Elections demonstrate the need for continued vigilance.

Nandlall made the remarks while appearing on the Starting Point podcast, where he was asked whether the safeguards and legislative changes introduced since the disputed 2020 elections could prevent the country from finding itself in a similar situation.

“Unfortunately, I can’t give you that assurance once the APNU [A Partnership for National Unity] and the AFC [Alliance For Change] are around,” the Attorney General said.
He argued that the events of 2020 should serve as a reminder that electoral safeguards alone may not prevent a recurrence of such circumstances, pointing to what he described as a historical pattern of election rigging.

According to him, previous generations would have had reason to believe that the introduction of free and fair elections after 1992 meant that Guyana would not again experience a disputed electoral process of that nature.

Nandlall noted that generations who lived through the rigged elections of the past may have believed Guyana had moved beyond such experiences following the restoration of free and fair elections in 1992. However, he said the 2020 elections demonstrated that similar circumstances could still arise, despite the passage of time.

The Attorney General accused the APNU and AFC of returning to practices associated with earlier elections, arguing that the events of 2020 reflected a continuation of conduct dating back decades.

He specifically referred to the period between 1968 and 1985, during which Guyana held several elections that were widely disputed over allegations of electoral manipulation.

Nandlall said the political figures and forces he blamed for those historical events remained active and had not accepted responsibility for what he described as the rigging of the 2020 elections.
He argued that the failure to acknowledge that history would continue to affect the political fortunes of the opposition.

He said, “And I have said that they will continue to haemorrhage seats at every election unless they accept the role that they played.”

Nandlall had previously said that continued claims that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) rigged the 2020 General and Regional Elections will result in the opposition losing further electoral support. Nandlall made the remarks during his weekly programme, “Issues in the News,” while discussing the ongoing trial into alleged electoral fraud arising from the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.

“Once they continue to peddle that narrative that the PPP/C rigged those elections, they will continue to lose more votes at the elections,” Nandlall said, adding that he had made the same point consistently on his programme between 2020 and 2025.

He was also critical of what he described as racist rhetoric being promoted on political platforms and by social media groups. Nandlall also blasted what he described as racist rhetoric being promoted on Politics 101, the programme hosted by Working People’s Alliance (WPA) co-leader Dr David Hinds, and on other political platforms.

He noted, “Once they continue to peddle the type of racism that is being peddled on Politics 101 and the cliques that gather on that and those types of platforms, they will continue to haemorrhage.” Nandlall linked what he described as the opposition’s continued promotion of those narratives to its decline in parliamentary representation.

Nandlall was pointing to the opposition’s reduced parliamentary representation following the 2025 elections, when the APNU, led by Aubrey Norton, secured 12 seats, compared with the 31 seats won by the APNU+AFC coalition in 2020. The newly formed We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), led by US-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed, secured 16 seats in 2025, making it the largest opposition party in the National Assembly.

The Attorney General’s comments on the Starting Point podcast come against the background of the controversy surrounding Guyana’s March 2020 General and Regional Elections, which triggered months of political and legal disputes over the declaration of the results.

The electoral process was marked by court proceedings, challenges to the tabulation of votes in Region Four and international scrutiny before the final results were declared and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic assumed office in August 2020.

The events subsequently prompted renewed attention to the administration of elections, the role of election officials and the safeguards required to protect the integrity of the voting and tabulation processes.

Since returning to office in August 2020, the PPP/C government has pursued changes to Guyana’s electoral laws aimed at strengthening transparency and accountability in the conduct of elections. The amendments included changes to the Representation of the People Act to improve the tabulation of votes, provide for the publication of Statements of Poll and clarify the responsibilities of election officials. Further measures addressed voter registration and penalties for electoral offences.

Those charged criminally in connection with the 2020 elections include former senior officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), including the former Chief Elections Officer, Deputy Chief Elections Officer and Region Four Returning Officer, as well as a former APNU+AFC Minister of Health, a former APNU+AFC chief scrutineer and other former election staff.