AFC kicked from parliamentary Opposition; APNU’s grip weakened

…as ALP’s Simona Broomes urges respect for election results

The Nigel Hughes-led Alliance For Change (AFC) has been kicked out of the benches of the parliamentary opposition while its former coalition partner, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), headed by Aubrey Norton, has lost significant political power. The vote count of Monday’s General and Regional Elections shows that the AFC struggled to secure enough votes to earn a seat in the National Assembly while the APNU’s parliamentary influence has weakened.
The main parliamentary opposition will now comprise the We Invest Nationhood (WIN) party headed by United States (US)-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed. President Dr Irfaan Ali is poised to begin a second term in office as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is heading for a resounding electoral victory. Once an emerging third force in Guyana, the AFC had won 5 out of 65 seats in Parliament at the 2006 elections and seven in 2011. It teamed up with the APNU in 2015 and together they won that year’s elections but their term was cut short in 2018 when the Government fell to a no-confidence motion.

In 2020, AFC’s popularity declined, and it won 5 seats in the elections which it contested jointly with APNU. Together, the APNU and AFC had held 31 seats in the National Assembly, forming the main parliamentary opposition.
In addition to the National Assembly, APNU and AFC have lost power at the regional levels. Projections show that the PPP/C has gained control of seven regions including Region Four – formerly a stronghold of the APNU.
WIN is projected to win at least two regions which were also previously APNU strongholds.

Respect results
Moments after independent tabulations of Statements of Polls (SOPs) were released, Simona Broomes — former Member of Parliament (MP) for APNU and a former member of People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and now leader of the recently launched Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP), took to social media and shared her views on the results. According to Broomes, Guyanese have exercised their democratic right and the outcome must be respected.
“When election time comes, the public votes for the people of their choice. That is their right. But once the elections are over, you must accept the outcome. There’s a type of representation you need, and you must take it — good or bad,” she stated, directing her remarks in part to other opposition leaders.

Broomes underscored that victory in an election is not won through sudden declarations but through years of hard work and commitment to the people.
“Winning an election doesn’t happen overnight. From since 2020, you had to start working if you wanted to win in 2025. You don’t just wake up in 2025 and think you could win. I wasn’t in Parliament collecting money or compromising myself. I’ve been doing the groundwork from the very beginning of the campaign,” she asserted.
“The Guyanese people vote, and their vote must speak for them. They better make it work, and they must hold their leaders accountable. We in the ALP will hold every single man Jack, accountable,” she affirmed.