President Ali welcomes E.U. election findings, rejects claims of incumbency advantage

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has endorsed the European Union Election Observation Mission’s (EU EOM) final assessment of Guyana’s 2025 General and Regional Elections, but firmly dismissed the Mission’s concerns about an “uneven playing field” and the alleged benefits of incumbency.

The EU EOM’s report—presented on Tuesday after months of scrutiny—confirmed that the September 1 polls were peaceful, professionally administered, and supported by significant transparency measures, including the real-time online publication of Statements of Poll for the first time in Guyana’s electoral history.

Despite those positive findings, the Mission flagged issues tied to political polarisation, perceived institutional biases, and structural advantages held by the governing party. Following the release of this report, the Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Sèbastien Sigouin, made a call for Guyanese citizens to “safeguard democracy” by demanding stronger electoral systems.

“Democracy belongs to the Guyanese People. So speak up, call on your elected representatives, on your National Assembly, on your Government to take action and make the changes needed so that your electoral process is truly free and fair. It’s your right and your responsibility,” Sigouin said.

Meanwhile, Chief Observer Robert Biedroń, presenting the EU report at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre, noted that while the elections were efficiently run, “political polarisation and an uneven playing field reduced public confidence in the process.”

The final report identified six priority areas for reform, including campaign finance regulation, voter registration, and strengthening of media fairness. It also pointed to concerns about structures within the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), limited access to media for smaller parties, and barriers faced by persons with disabilities.

President Ali, responding to the release, last evening, said the references to incumbency advantage were without merit.

He described the assertions as “ridiculous and not supported by facts,” insisting that the concerns stemmed predominantly from political complaints rather than evidence.

“It is based primarily on complaints by political participants in the elections and their affiliates. We made it very clear that in any system, there are advantages and disadvantages to incumbency,” he said.

The President argued that electoral outcomes hinge on performance, not position, emphasising that a poorly performing government would not be rewarded by voters.

“If an incumbency, an incumbent government performed badly, did not fufill it’s manifesto then they are faced with the disadvantage of their poor performance,” he said. He added that the People’s Progressive Party Civic “delivered on all of its commitments.”

Ali stressed that communicating those achievements to the public is an obligation, not an undue political advantage. He further noted that the government has a responsibility to highlight and celebrate its delivering and results.

He also reiterated that the administration’s actions—ranging from the construction of schools and hospitals to cash transfers and expanded infrastructure—were simply fulfilment of its 2020 manifesto.

“We delivered on all our commitments. We had schools, hospitals, health centres, roads, opened, throughout the period,” Ali stated.

Although the EU acknowledged improvements in transparency—including systems introduced specifically to prevent a repeat of the 2020 electoral crisis—the report noted the lasting mistrust created during that period.

President Ali agreed that the events of 2020 left deep public scars.

“As a result of the scar from 2020, the mistrust, the derailing of systems, the erosion of systems in the 2020 elections, there was mistrust from that era. From what took place by the staff of Gecom, in collusion with political parties,” he said.

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to broad electoral reforms and said he welcomed constructive recommendations aimed at strengthening the process.