THERE is something deeply disappointing about the state of politics in Guyana in 2026.
Not because politics is noisy.
Politics is supposed to be noisy. Democracy is supposed to produce disagreement, confrontation, competing ideas, and uncomfortable questions. Governments must be challenged. Ministers must be scrutinised. Public money must be accounted for. Decisions must be questioned.
What is disappointing is that, at a moment when Guyana has more resources, more opportunities and more national responsibilities than at almost any point in our history, too much of the political opposition appears to have reduced politics to social media battles, personal attacks, political theatrics and an endless race for likes, views and attention.
Guyana is 60 years independent, but sometimes our politics behaves as if we are still politically immature.
The Opposition should be doing much more.
It should be in parliament demanding answers about billions of dollars being spent by the government. It should be examining contracts, procurement, expenditure, development projects, public-sector programmes, infrastructure, debt, revenue and national priorities.
It should be asking the tough questions, reading the Budget documents, dissecting supplementary financial papers, examining whether every dollar is being spent wisely, demanding explanations where explanations are required and exposing weaknesses where weaknesses exist. That is the Opposition’s job.
Not to follow government ministers around like a headless chicken and not to turn every political disagreement into a social-media spectacle. WIN and APNU/PNC should desist from behaving as though the biggest measure of political success is who has the most Facebook followers or whose video received the most views.
Parliament is not TikTok, governance is not Facebook, and accountability is not measured by the number of people who press “like”.
Additionally, political leadership cannot be reduced to who can produce the loudest and most shocking video.
The opposition is looking in the wrong direction.
The tragedy of the MV Barima should have demonstrated the difference between political maturity and political opportunism.
The loss of life was devastating. Families were shattered. Communities were traumatised. Guyana mourned.
The appropriate political response was therefore never simply to demand that two ministers resign and declare victory. That is too small a political ambition for such a serious national tragedy.
The bigger political victory is getting to the truth, understanding exactly what happened, identifying where the systems failed, if they failed, who was responsible, whether procedures were followed, whether regulations were adequate, whether enforcement was effective, whether the vessel was properly operated, and what must be changed so that another family does not have to experience such devastation.
That is why the combined opposition should be concentrating intensely on the Commission of Inquiry.
The government announced an independent international Commission of Inquiry to establish the facts surrounding the tragedy, determine whether failures occurred and recommend reforms to Guyana’s maritime safety framework. Former Belizean Justice of Appeal Godfrey Phillip Smith was appointed to head the five-member commission.
The initial investigation also involved the Maritime Administration Department, commonly known as MARAD, together with the Guyana Police Force, Guyana Defence Force and technical maritime experts.
There is therefore an enormous political opportunity here for a serious Opposition. WIN and APNU should be studying the COI, the MARAD findings and processes, the regulatory framework, the ferry system, study the passenger-manifest procedures, safety regulations, emergency-response protocols, the procurement and maintenance history of the maritime fleet, what happened before the vessel sailed and what happened after the tragedy.
Then go into parliament and ask the government questions it cannot escape. That should be effective opposition politics that will ensure the strengthening of the institutions.
Isn’t that how political parties earn public respect?
Demanding a minister’s resignation may make for a dramatic headline. But getting government to change a defective policy, strengthen a weak regulation, improve maritime safety and protect thousands of passengers for generations would be a far greater political achievement.
The Opposition must learn the difference and stop behaving like political thugs and scrapes.
There is also a troubling tendency for political disagreement to become unnecessarily aggressive.
Politics does not require political thuggery.
It requires political intelligence, discipline and diplomacy.
WIN, or PNC does not become stronger because it creates more havoc. It becomes stronger when people believe that it can govern. That distinction is crucial.
Guyana is entering a period in which the country will have to make enormous decisions about its resources, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, health, education, housing, transportation, national security and economic development.
Oil has transformed the country’s financial capacity and infrastructure is changing the physical landscape.
The population is demanding better services. Young people want opportunities. Businesses want certainty. Workers want better wages and stronger economic security. Communities want roads, drainage, water, electricity, healthcare and education.
The country needs serious politics because the stakes are serious.
But instead of presenting a compelling alternative national programme, too much of the Opposition’s energy appears consumed by fighting among itself, attacking personalities and competing over who can dominate social media.
This is not political strategy. It is political exhaustion.
Additionally, politics is about power, but power must serve the people.
Let us be honest about what politics is.
Politics is about who makes decisions, who controls institutions, who determines national priorities and who speaks for the people. There is nothing inherently wrong with that.
In fact, that is democracy.
The problem begins when political power becomes an end in itself.
Political power should be used to solve problems, improve people’s lives, protect public resources, create opportunities and ensure that ordinary citizens are not forgotten.
Politics is not supposed to be a permanent struggle for the sake of struggle.
It is supposed to produce practical solutions.
A political party that spends five years shouting but cannot tell citizens what it intends to do differently is not offering an alternative. It is offering frustration.
And frustration is not a development strategy.
Finally, Guyana is 60 and our politics should grow up.
We should be examining our politics and undergoing a national introspection.
We should be asking ourselves what kind of political culture we want for the next 60 years.
President Irfaan Ali has repeatedly used the 60th anniversary to call for unity and a stronger national consciousness, including a vision of a “One Guyana” in which differences are not erased but respected.
But unity does not mean political silence.
Unity does not mean the Opposition should stop criticising the Government.
Unity means we must learn to disagree without destroying the institutions through which disagreement is supposed to take place.
Guyana needs an Opposition that is strong, intelligent and fearless, not wild.
The political temperature in Guyana is extremely high right now.
But it will cool. It always does.
Today’s controversy will eventually become yesterday’s headline. Today’s viral video will eventually disappear down the social-media timeline. Today’s political insult will eventually be forgotten.
When that happens, politicians will still have to face the people.
The Opposition needs a different strategy. It needs to stop reacting to every Government announcement and start setting its own political agenda. Stop chasing Government.
Make government chase you. Stop responding to every minister. Make ministers respond to your questions.
Stop trying to win every social-media argument. Start winning arguments in Parliament.
Stop measuring political strength through followers. Measure it through policy.
Stop confusing noise with influence.
At last, Guyana does not need less politics. It needs better politics. We need politicians who can disagree without becoming enemies.
Most importantly, we need a political culture in which winning an argument is less important than solving a problem.
That is the politics Guyana deserves at 60.
Our independence was not achieved so that six decades later we could remain trapped in childish political behaviour.
We should have matured.
And if Guyana is truly going to enter its next 60 years as a modern, confident and prosperous nation, then our politics must finally grow up.
Guyana does not need more political noise. Guyana needs political maturity.
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.