Why blame the PPP/C Govt for perceived erosion of democratic values?

Dear Editor,
Several writers have claimed that there has been an erosion of democracy in Guyana, particularly during the PPPC’s current term in office (2020-2025). The Guyana Press Association (GPA) alleges, for example, that freedom of expression under the PPPC administration is being threatened.
The PPPC believe that much of the criticism has emerged because they (PPPC) have been refuting “fake” or distorted news. Any government, including the PPPC, has the right to challenge distorted news or misinformation, and such responses must not be construed as attempts to discredit the press.
The critics’ case is buttressed by reports of Transparency Institute of Guyana (TIGI), whose findings, however, are disputed by the PPPC government. TIGI awarded Guyana a low score of 39 on the 2024 Corruption Perception Index (CPI). This is below the regional average of 42, and it ranks Guyana 92 out of 180 countries. TIGI notes: “In Guyana, state capture by economic and political elites fosters misappropriation of resources, illicit enrichment, and environmental crime…transparency and law enforcement are very low, and attacks on dissenting voices, activists, and journalists increasingly common.”
The PPPC reject these findings, and say that they are not based on any credible evidence.
Another source of support for the critics’ position on erosion of democracy is an organization called the V-Dem Institute. Mr. Edward Burrowes says that Guyana has been moving, since 2018, towards “autocratization” (a political situation in which power is highly concentrated in one person, who also suppresses dissent). Based on his interpretation of the findings of the V-Dem Institute, he accuses the PPPC government of “trying to stifle the emergence of 3rd parties and freedom of expression.”
Had Mr Burrowes conducted a critical review of V-Dem’s methodology, he would have recognized why Guyana received lower scores on 3 of the 6 metrics: Egalitarian Components, Participatory Components, Deliberative Components (The other three are Liberal Democracy, Electoral Democracy, Liberal Components). Although quantitative and qualitative data show that Guyana has outperformed most Caricom states in at least three of the 6 metrics (‘Egalitarian’, ‘Participatory’ and ‘Deliberative’ Components), it still received lower scores than the other electoral democracies.
There is an abundance of data over the past 4 years (2020-2024) on how the PPPC government has revolutionized the democratic process by taking government to the people on a weekly basis to every village in every region of the country.
The PPPC solicit citizens’ views on development of their manifesto as well as on development priorities for their communities. These initiatives are reflected in the egalitarian, deliberative and participatory components of Guyana’s electoral democracy, yet Guyana has been scored below countries which it outperformed on these metrics!
Therefore, to understand why Guyana received lower scores than other Caricom states, one must know how the six metrics are computed and rated by the 30 experts (20 local and 12 overseas).
We asked V-Dem to name the local experts, but they declined: “We do not reveal the identity of our Country Experts, and preserve Country Expert confidentiality according to a strict policy.”
In the interest of transparency, accountability, and good governance, shouldn’t Guyanese know the names of the local “experts”? We need to know what data they provide to V-Dem. Have they ever provided any IMF or World Bank data on Guyana’s favourable economic performance?
Economic prosperity could only flow from a good democratic foundation, including freedom of expression. The IMF (March 2025 report) highlights various positive economic indicators, such as an average GDP growth rate of 47% between 2022-2024; a projection of growth rate of an average of 14% for the next 5 years; while the non-oil sector would grow on average by 6.75% during the same period. The fiscal budget deficit would narrow from 7.3% of GDP in 2024 to 5% of GDP in 2025. Shouldn’t we know if any favourable data on Guyana has been sourced by V-Dem and other organizations, like TIGI?
While we condemn corruption, any form of criminal activity, and sluggish law enforcement, we do not find in Guyana any verifiable evidence that the PPPC government is suppressing freedom of expression, an essential foundational principle of democracy.
Instead, what stifles freedom of expression and democracy is “fake” news, misinformation, and the extant Defamation Act and the 2018 Cybercrime Act. Just think about it!

Sincerely,
Dr Tara Singh