Following the 2025 general election, Guyana’s Parliament now includes three opposition parties. Yet rather than strengthening democracy, this outcome has exposed a deep and troubling reality: the opposition landscape is fragmented, directionless, and largely devoid of credible leadership or a coherent vision.
The People’s National Congress (PNC), a party with more than six decades of history, suffered its worst electoral defeat. This outcome was no accident. It was the direct result of failed leadership and an outdated political strategy under Aubrey Norton, the current leader. Rather than offering policies, solutions, or a unifying national vision, Norton relied almost entirely on racial rhetoric—attempting to frame the election as an ethnic contest and repeatedly accusing the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) leadership of racism. The only viable policy Aubrey Norton offered was to play the race card against the Indo-Guyanese community. This approach failed to resonate with voters, including many Afro-Guyanese voters, and instead further alienated large sections of the electorate from the PNC and AFC.
From the very beginning of his leadership, Norton signalled confrontation rather than statesmanship. His first significant public statement—that he would refuse to shake hands with President Dr Irfaan Ali because he did not recognise him as the legitimate leader of the country—set the tone for a politics rooted in denial rather than democratic acceptance. In a diverse nation like Guyana, where Afro-Guyanese comprise roughly 29.3% of the population and Indo-Guyanese form the majority, such rhetoric was politically self-destructive, especially given that Indo-Guyanese make up over 39.8% of the population.
Historically, no party perceived as ethnically exclusive has won national power in Guyana without cross-ethnic support. Any Afro–Guyanese–led party requires meaningful Indo-Guyanese backing—at least 10%—to form a government. Norton not only failed to build that bridge but also actively burned it. Expecting Indo-Guyanese voters to support a party that repeatedly accused them and their leaders of racism was politically naïve. The electoral verdict was decisive: no meaningful segment of Indo-Guyanese voters supported the PNC or its AFC allies.
Ironically, the PNC’s collapse did not strengthen principled opposition politics. Instead, a new party emerged barely three months before the election, led by Azruddin Mohamed. Despite lacking political experience or ideological clarity, this group secured 16 seats—primarily by drawing votes away from the PNC and AFC among Afro-Guyanese voters through financial inducements rather than political persuasion. That outcome alone reveals how far the opposition has fallen: votes were mobilised not by ideas but by money.
The PNC, once the dominant opposition force, now holds only 12 seats. This shift underscores a harsh truth: loyalty, principles, and long-term political vision have been replaced by transactional politics. Meanwhile, traditional opposition figures and institutions have been sidelined. Former President David Granger has been isolated, while long-standing AFC leaders such as Nagamootoo and Ramjattan have faded into political irrelevance, with their parties effectively dismantled.
In any functioning democracy, such a resounding electoral defeat would prompt accountability. Leaders would resign. Parties would reflect and reform. Aubrey Norton has done neither. Despite leading the PNC into political ruin and being linked to the failed attempt to rig and manipulate the 2020 election results, he remains defiant, clinging to leadership without a mandate, strategy, or support base.
Aubrey Norton is determined to destroy Linden Forbes Burnham’s legacy and to introduce his own vision for the PNC party, which he hopes the new young Afro-Guyanese voters will accept. The young Afro-Guyanese do not care a bit about Aubrey Norton and his appointed poodles in Parliament and at PNC headquarters. Aubrey Norton lacks the personality to lead any party. He does not understand that Guyana is a multicultural society and that Afro-Guyanese are only 29.3% of the population. Unfortunately, no one in Guyana has explained the population’s composition to Aubrey Norton and told him that the PNC needs the votes of Indo-Guyanese, mixed-race, and Amerindians to win.
Aubrey Norton refused to be a Member of Parliament because he wanted to control the PNC from its head office. The PNC’s old guard has accepted its fate: it is completely isolated by Aubrey Norton’s team. Even the former President David Granger has no power to challenge Aubrey Norton’s plan for the PNC. Even the PNC’s biggest racist and geriatric, Hamilton Green, is hiding from the public and is entirely incapable of preserving his Master Burnham’s legacy. Unless the PNC does something to get rid of Aubrey Norton, it will face the same fate as the AFC party – Dead as a Dodo.
Today, the Afro-Guyanese voters are represented by Azruddin Mohamed. The WIN Party has spent considerable money buying votes among the Afro-Guyanese community, and its leader, Azruddin Mohamed, has been very successful. In contrast, the Indo-Guyanese voters told Azruddin Mohamed to get lost, although some PPP Party Muslim voters voted for him. Why? They alone can answer that question. The Indo-Muslim community is a small percentage of the Indo-Guyanese community.
Azruddin Mohamed destroyed the PNC party’s vote bank; even Linden, regarded as the PNC party’s bastion, voted for Azruddin Mohamed. Money talks in Linden. Mr Burnham must be turning in his grave.
The so-called opposition leader, Azruddin Mohamed, who has not yet been approved by parliament, faces serious allegations, including money laundering, gold smuggling, and issuing false invoices. The USA government wants both Nazar and Azruddin Mohamed to be extradited to face criminal charges committed in the USA.
The opposition parties are in turmoil, and this has become a national embarrassment. In contrast, the PPP continues to enjoy consistent support from Indo-Guyanese voters across religious lines—Hindus, Muslims, and Christians—who together make up over 39.8% of the population. In addition, many Afro-Guyanese, mixed-race, and Amerindian voters voted for the PPP. Hence, the PPP won a landslide victory with 36 seats. While there are indications that some PPP Muslim voters shifted their support in the 2025 election, the broader reality remains unchanged: the PPP retains a loyal and principled base that votes on stability, governance, and continuity rather than short-term incentives.
Guyana today does not lack opposition parties. It lacks a deserving opposition. One side is trapped in racial grievance and leadership insecurity. Money rather than ideas drives another. Together, they offer no serious alternative government, no policy depth, and no national vision.
Until the opposition confronts these failures—rejects race-based politics, restores internal democracy, and prioritises competence over cash—Guyana’s political balance will remain fundamentally one-sided.
The highly organised and well-disciplined PPP party, under the leadership of its formidable Secretary General, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, will ensure it delivers on the promises made in its 2025 manifesto, including continuing to improve the standard of living for all Guyanese, regardless of ethnicity.
The tragedy is that Guyana no longer has an opposition party capable of offering a new alternative vision to the people of Guyana. Sadly, this is the reality of politics in democratic Guyana today.