Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, 1 September 2025

Guyana’s general elections, held on 1 September 2025, determined both the presidency and seats in the National Assembly. The country operates under a multi-party representative system and a semi-presidential parliamentary model. General and Regional elections are held every five years (International IDEA n.d.a). The Assembly consists of 65 members elected through proportional representation, with 40 chosen at the national level and 25 at the regional level (Commonwealth 2020). 

Six political parties contested the elections: The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), the Alliance for Change, (AFC), and three newly created movements: Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), Assembly for Liberty and Prosperity (ALP) and We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), all formed in 2025 (EU EOM 2025).

The 2025 elections were largely peaceful and conducted in an efficient manner (EU EOM 2025). While staff of the Guyana Elections Commision (GECOM) showed professionalism and integrity, the electoral management body showed signs of politicization with opposition-appointed commissioners staging a walkout days before polling and GECOM struggling to reach consensus decisions even on minor matters (Carter Center 2025). In the opinion of Carter Center observers, the EMB’s difficulties are structural and prevent it from improving its operations to international standards; in particular, there are concerns about the accuracy of the electoral roll (Carter Center 2025). 

The 2025 elections saw claims of state resource misuse. It was stated that campaign finances were weakly regulated with no sufficient legal provisions (Carter Center 2025). More than 2,800 police officers were promoted and given bonuses during the campaign, with observers questioning the timing (EU EOM 2025). It was also reported that state-owned vehicles and public workers were used in campaigning (Carter Center 2025). Public works projects and social programmes were launched during the campaign, often attended by incumbent supporters, branding and partisan messaging. Allegations of direct and indirect vote buying were widespread, involving PPP/C and WIN candidates, especially in vulnerable communities (EU EOM 2025). 

Online spaces were often hostile, with partisan influencers on Facebook and TikTok spreading misleading content, especially about the WIN candidate or trading accusations between PPP/C and APNU. False and misleading content was spread widely online. Meta and Google did not provide election-specific content moderation for Guyana, nor was there direct cooperation between global tech companies, GECOM, and major digital platforms to quickly remove or block harmful content. Without independent fact-checking, voters often struggled to separate truth from misinformation (EU EOM 2025).

There were cases of violence and intimidation. Journalists were verbally attacked by senior officials and their supporters at public events and harassed on social media for asking critical questions. There were also cases where civil servants and part-time government workers faced demotions or transfers after showing support for the opposition party (EU EOM 2025). Business actors and other community members also feared reprisals if they did not show support for the ruling party (Carter Center 2025). On the other hand, the PPP/C party made a formal complaint to the ERC about threats of post-election violence (Carter Center 2025).

Women made up 85 per cent of polling staff and 82 per cent of presiding officers, and two women contested the presidency (Carter Center 2025).  Regarding gender-based violence, some women candidates reported degrading narratives and language directed towards them on the Internet (Carter Center 2025), as did women from the politicians’ circle, the Minister of Education and influencers on opposition-leaning social media (EU EOM 2025). The two key laws regulating elections (besides the Constitution) were amended in 2022, the Representation of the People Act (RoPA) and the National Registrations Act (NRA). However, regulations regarding women participation were still inadequate which resulted in limited transparency and inclusivity regarding seating allotment (EU EOM 2025).

Regarding people with disabilities, it was reported that staff did receive sensitivity training ahead of election day but sufficient reasonable accommodations to ensure physical access and ballot secrecy for disabled people were not provided (Carter Center 2025). 

Indigenous peoples —comprising 10–15 per cent of the population—were considered a key electorate in 2025, with WIN challenging the traditional two-party system and all three leading parties incentivized to emphasize unity over ethnic divisions (EU EOM 2025). WIN's founder and presidential candidate Azruddin Mohamed, along with over 70 WIN members, faced domestic flight restrictions and frozen bank accounts. While Mohamed was under US sanctions, he had not been formally charged with any offences by Guyanese authorities (EU EOM 2025). 

The final Official List of Electors included a total of 757,690 voters (Carter Center 2025). Nevertheless, opposition parties questioned its accuracy, alleging inflation and possible manipulation in the absence of reliable population data (EU EOM 2025; Goolsarran 2025). Irfaan Ali was re-elected president with 242,000 votes, securing 36 parliamentary seats for the PPP/C (DPI 2025; Guyana Chronicle 2025). Potential inaccuracies notwithstanding, recorded turnout was 58.41 per cent, significantly lower than the 72–73 per cent turnout recorded at the previous three general elections (International IDEA n.d.b). 

Innovations

Legal changes introduced in 2022 aimed to improve inclusivity, such as allowing Toshaos, the Indigenous leaders, to assist people in obtaining birth certificates and to provide information on deaths in order to allow the community members to vote (Carter Center 2025). The 2022 reforms also helped to streamline electoral laws and introduced new transparency measures for processing and transmitting results; established procedures for correcting Statements of Poll; set time limits for recount requests; and imposed significantly higher penalties for various electoral offences (EU EOM 2025). 

In response to vote buying fears expressed by the opposition and new parties, GECOM reminded voters of the rules and banned the use of mobile devices in polling booths (Carter Center 2025).