Campbell Calls for Civic Alliance with Unions, Churches, Temples, and Masjids Ahead of Independence Anniversary
By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — A Member of Parliament for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has called for a broad civic alliance — bringing together opposition parties, trade unions, civil society, and religious communities — to mount a unified challenge to the governing People’s Progressive Party / Civic (PPP/C) at the next general election.
Dr. Terrence Campbell, a businessman and APNU parliamentarian, issued the call in a statement timed ahead of Guyana’s 60th Independence Anniversary on May 26.
Dr. Campbell framed his call by drawing on Guyana’s political history, arguing that major national change has consistently required organisation, sacrifice, and collective action.
He referenced the work of trade unionists Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow and Dr. J.B. Lachmansingh in organising workers during the colonial period, and noted that former Presidents Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham and Cheddi Jagan had initially worked together in the People’s Progressive Party before becoming political rivals.
Dr. Campbell also referenced the political turbulence of the early 1960s — a period marked in Guyanese history by strikes, civil disturbances, and racial violence in the years immediately preceding independence — and contrasted it with the country’s emergence into independence on May 26, 1966.
The Call for a Civic Alliance
Dr. Campbell’s central proposal was for a broad coalition extending well beyond formal opposition party politics.
“I’m calling for an embrace with trade unions. I’m calling for an embrace with civil society. I’m calling for an embrace with the churches, the temples, and the masjids,” he said.
The reference to churches, temples, and masjids explicitly invoked Guyana’s three principal religious traditions — Christian, Hindu, and Muslim — and signalled what appeared to be a deliberately multi-ethnic, multi-faith civic appeal.
Dr. Campbell argued that with approximately four years remaining before the next national elections, the work of building trust and cooperation across opposition forces and civic institutions needed to begin now.
Allegations Against State Agencies
In stronger language, Dr. Campbell characterised the governing PPP/C as what he described as “a wicked, evil, corrupt dictatorship,” and alleged that the Government had used named state agencies — specifically the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) — against political opponents.
“A wicked, evil, corrupt dictatorship in Guyana is a PPP government that has not been unwilling to use state agencies like the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Revenue Authority against the opposition,” he said.
Dr. Campbell did not, in the comments reported, cite specific incidents or named individuals to support the allegation. He warned that the PPP/C would, in his view, deploy state resources in defence of its position, and said opposition forces must respond by becoming “organised, unified, and disciplined.”
Dr. Campbell’s call comes in a significantly changed political landscape since Guyana’s 2025 general and regional elections. The We Invest In Nationhood (WIN) party emerged from those elections as the main parliamentary opposition. APNU and the Alliance For Change (AFC) now sit in Parliament as smaller opposition forces.
The fragmentation of the opposition is itself part of the political backdrop to Dr. Campbell’s appeal: any civic alliance of the scope he proposes would need to bring together WIN as the largest opposition force, APNU, AFC, and a wide range of non-party civic and religious actors. WIN had not, at the time of publication, responded to Dr. Campbell’s call.
The PPP/C returned to government following the 2025 elections, having previously been in office from 2020. The Carter Center’s recently released observation report on the 2025 elections found that the tabulation process was significantly improved over the contested 2020 elections, while raising separate concerns about state media coverage and the strength of civil society participation in Guyana’s democratic process.
The proposal for a broad civic-political alliance is among the earlier high-profile calls for opposition coordination in the current political cycle. Whether it gains traction will depend on responses from WIN, from APNU’s own leadership, from the AFC and other opposition parties, and from the trade unions, civil society organisations, and religious bodies Dr. Campbell has invited to engage. The conversation around opposition unity — and around Dr. Campbell’s specific characterisation of the current Government — is expected to develop in the weeks and months ahead.
