In any election, anywhere in the world, there are always the “great pretenders”. Elections 2025 in Guyana has its share of pretenders. At the end of the day, however, the majority of voters always know who are real, who they can trust, who has a team that can govern.
The dilemma that the “great pretenders” confront for Elections 2025 is that people, by-and-large, know that Guyana has been on the right path since August 2020. One of the decisions voters must make on September 1st is whether to stay the course or change direction. The majority of people appeared already well-set to stay the course. They have come to love, admire and respect President Irfaan Ali and echo the same sentiment in all ten regions of Guyana that President Ali has had a great term as the Head-of-State, and is well-deserving of a second term.
The PPP held its traditional Albion Elections Campaign Rally on Sunday July 20th. One week before, the party had shattered attendance record for its traditional Kitty campaign launch. The launch at Kitty was a tsunami of red; the largest-ever launching rally for any political party in Guyana. Outside of the 25,000 to 30,000 in attendance at Kitty, the vibes were electrifying. But that record lasted just one week because on July 20th, Albion exceeded Kitty in numbers and in energy. It is estimated that attendance was 35,000 to 40,000. The atmosphere at Albion was exhilarating and was one of the most spirited political rallies anyone could recall in Guyana.
For the “great pretenders” with the wishful thinking that Region 6 is fertile grounds for votes, the Albion rally essentially dispelled all false hopes. For the old PPP opponent, the PNC, they are now fighting to remain a credible opponent. In the Albion crowd, there were thousands of persons who have voted all their lives for the PNC or who are first-time voters from families who are traditional PNC-supporters. PNC supporters have been in a mass exodus from the PNC to the PPP. With less than 40 days to Elections 2025, the PNC-led APNU is conspicuously absent from Region 6. Sugar workers do not trust them; rice farmers do not trust them; public servants do not trust them; pensioners do not trust them; business does not trust them; people with children do not trust them. Worst, their own loyal supports are distrustful of them.
It is not a mystery why loyal supporters have chosen to abandon the PNC. Listen to the latest ranting from Aubrey Norton and you understand why. He said the economists advised that an income tax threshold of $200,000 per month and an annual cash grant of $150,000 per family are doable, but he will ignore the economists and promise people $400,000 income tax threshold and cash grant of $1M per family. In other words, it is not what is possible. Promise big, because promises are made to be broken. The history of his party has been to make promises and then ignore them. Remember, the specialists his party choose told them in 2015 not to close sugar estates; they ignored them and closed sugar estates. This is the PNC’s modus operandi to make promises that they will abandon at their whims and fancies.
If the PNC are the original “pretenders”, then Elections 2025 has brought out a new set of “great pretenders”. In fact, the greatest of all “great pretenders” makes his debut in Elections 2025. Azruddin Mohamed, with wealth derived from criminal activities, according to the US Government which has sanctioned him and his businesses, thinks that his wealth makes him the ideal person to be Guyana’s President. His dishonesty knows no bounds and the people of Guyana know. He lies every and each day on the campaign. He tells people that it is the Government of Guyana that sanctioned him; he has never acknowledged that it is the US Government that sanctioned him. He tells people that the Government closed down his businesses when the Government has never done so. The banks have refused to deal with him for fear they will be sanctioned by the US. He was forced to leave the consortium for the shore-based oil business because the other partners wanted him out. He lies about who will be his PM candidate, about his manifesto and policies, always telling people “Very shortly”, “very soon”, “in due time”.
He treats Guyanese as if the people have no dignity, ripping their integrity away from them, pretending that citizens could be bought with his money. The social media manipulation has not escaped people. He turns small numbers of people through smart camera tricks bought with his money to fool people – he has hundreds of thousands of supporters when he could only fill his list with anyone he could buy, many with serious criminal records, even records for murder.
But President Ali and the PPP continue to demonstrate across Guyana that it is the only genuine national party with overwhelming support from all corners of Guyana. Indeed, everywhere the PPP shows up right now, whether a rally, a public meeting, or a fund-raiser, the party is creating records for attendance and energy. In fact, as Elections 2025 enters the homestretch, the PPP is so far ahead, the others are simply out of the race. They are fighting it out to see which “great pretender” will emerge as the leading opposition party. The “great pretenders” from the AFC, GFM and ALP are not even off yet. While WIN (Mohamed’s party) is desperately manipulating the social media to create the impression it is a large entity, this party will fade away after election, badly beaten in Elections 2025.
Pretending does not win elections – it is hard work, gaining people’s trust. No one wants to gamble with their future. Guyana on September 1st have already decided that they will stay the course.
