Members of the disciplined services have historically voted strongly for the PNC or for a PNC-led coalition like APNU/AFC. In the era of dictatorship and rigged elections (1968-1992), when all elections (1968, 1973, 1980, 1985) were as “crooked as barbed wire”, the members of the disciplined services were made part of the rigging machinery. The Guyana Defence Force was utilised by the PNC to seize ballot boxes, and they were in charge of bringing the boxes to the GDF headquarters, where the fake count occurred. The police force was used to intimidate and harass the opponents of the dictatorship. In short, the disciplined services were used to enforce the policy of party paramountcy. The stranglehold the PNC had over the disciplined services before the 1992 elections was sustained in subsequent free and fair elections. No one can dispute that the PNC had overwhelming support from the disciplined services in the era of free and fair elections since 1992.
But the PNC stranglehold on the votes from disciplined services presently for Elections 2025 appears shaky at best. Will the PNC-led APNU preserve their usual stranglehold on the votes that will be cast by the members of the disciplined services for Elections 2025? Will the PPP finally earn the support from members of the disciplined services? It appears that the AFC has lost support from all sectors in the country and that Ramjattan’s curse that the AFC will be dead meat once they join the PNC has ruined the AFC. Since joining the PNC on Valentine’s Day in 2015, the AFC has been reeling and has been on life support since 2020. It appears that the other parties have not shown up to the match.
The PNC has in a large part relied on preaching the “kith and kin” message to the members of the disciplined services. The consistent “kith and kin” call on the members of the disciplined services by the PNC has been a blatant racist message. Given that the disciplined services have historically been dominated by Afro-Guyanese, the PNC preached race. But the race-based stranglehold that the PNC sustained for decades over the disciplined services has weakened considerably. In 2025, the disciplined services has its greatest-ever diversity. While Afro-Guyanese continue to dominate in the disciplined services, meaningful diversity has been achieved, with the highest-ever numbers of Amerindians and Indo-Guyanese in the disciplined services today. Thus, the “kith and kin” solicitation is stale and sterile. The PNC are the only ones in the country that seem not to recognise this stark reality.
Then there is the “TRUST” equation. One of the most popular policy decisions relating to the disciplined services during Bharat Jagdeo’s presidency was the one-month, tax-free salary bonus, the so-called “Christmas Bonus”. This policy was introduced in 2008 by President Bharat Jagdeo and preserved in the 2011-2015 PPP Government under President Donald Ramotar. In 2015, the PNC-led APNU/AFC Government terminated the one-month bonus for the disciplined services. This really hurt the members of the disciplined services, particularly since they had always voted overwhelmingly for the PNC or any PNC-led coalition. The irony that the PPP, which had never enjoyed any meaningful electoral support from members of the disciplined services, had seen it fit to reward the disciplined services with an annual bonus had not escaped the members of the disciplined services. The PNC, which enjoyed overwhelming electoral support from the disciplined services, by taking away this benefit forced the disciplined services to re-examine the question of “trust”.
The PNC had also promised public servants dramatic pay increases in 2015 within the first 100 days of a PNC-led Government, promising that the disciplined services and public servants would be granted an immediate 20 per cent salary increase. The dramatic pay increases promised during Elections 2015 never materialised, not within the first 100 days nor in the five years of the David Granger-led APNU/AFC Government. But that Government had the audacity to grant themselves 50 per cent to 100 per cent pay and benefit increases. The members of the disciplined services felt betrayed by the PNC. That disappointment intensified the loss of “trust” in the PNC which the disciplined services always maintained.
In contrast to the loss of “trust” in the PNC, the members of the disciplined services were more inclined to re-examine how they perceived the PPP’s leadership. Having heaped praise on Bharat Jagdeo’s and Donald Ramotar’s PPP Governments for sustaining the one-month bonus, they also recognised the efforts of Irfaan Ali’s PPP Government in accelerating pay increases. With other benefits that have accrued to the members of the disciplined services through investments made by previous PPP Governments and now accelerated under the leadership of President Irfaan Ali, there is evidence that the members of the disciplined services are perhaps at a stage where their “trust” in the PPP is now at the highest level ever.
The largest-ever mass promotion in any police force in the commonwealth just occurred in Guyana. President Irfaan Ali announced just two weeks ago a new policy relating to salaries and promotion among the men and women of the disciplined services. President Ali announced that cops with a good record who have been corporals for 8-10 years will now be moved to the highest level of the corporal salary scale; constables with service between 5 and 7 years will be promoted to lance corporal at the highest level of the scale; cops with 10-13 years of service will be promoted to sergeant at the middle of the scale; and cops with 13-15 years of service will be promoted to sergeant at the highest level of the scale. Those who are in the service for 20 or more years will be adjusted to inspector level.
The big question, therefore, with Elections 2025 days away, is where will the votes of the disciplined services go? While the PNC is desperately clinging on to its “kith and kin” message, the PPP is confident of more support from the disciplined services.