Georgetown, Guyana – September 5, 2025 – The Forward Guyana Movement has blasted both the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the Guyana Police Force (GPF), accusing them of sidestepping urgent concerns over ballot box tampering and instead attacking those who dared to raise questions.
In a blistering statement issued on September 5, the group said the most disturbing aspect of GECOM’s September 4 press release was “not what it said, but what it refused to say.” Rather than directly addressing video footage showing ballot boxes allegedly mishandled and arriving without seals, the group said, GECOM chose to discredit the person who filmed it, Haddiyyah Mohamed, sister of WIN presidential candidate Azruddin Mohamed. “This is gaslighting of the highest order,” the Forward Guyana Movement declared. “It seeks to make Guyanese people believe that they did not see what they saw. It is insulting. It is debasing. It is an offense to the intelligence of right-thinking Guyanese.”
The Movement also turned its fire on the Police Force, which on Thursday issued a statement condemning misinformation and warning against attempts to stir unrest. To Forward Guyana, that was a missed opportunity. “What makes this especially troubling is that it was issued after video evidence surfaced showing what appears to be ballot boxes being emptied from a container and seals that appear to have been tampered with. Rather than announcing an immediate investigation into this disturbing footage, the Police Force chose instead to issue a public denial and condemnation,” the group said.
The Movement insisted the evidence “cannot and must not be ignored,” warning that the sanctity of the ballot box is the foundation of free and fair elections. “When a ballot box is tampered with, it is not only the box that is violated; it is the will of the people that is violated. It is the voice of the voter that is silenced,” the statement read.
The group accused those dismissing the video of undermining democracy for their own gain. “This selective approach to principle, where what we stand for depends on where we sit, is what has kept Guyana backward and divided,” it said, contrasting Guyana’s drawn-out disputes with Jamaica’s recent elections, where results were declared within 36 hours of polls closing.
Declaring that “the evidence of tampered ballot boxes cannot be explained away,” Forward Guyana demanded that both GECOM and the Police launch an urgent investigation. The group also appealed to international observer missions still in the country to take note not just of the footage itself, but of how the authorities are handling the controversy.
“Transparency, accountability, and decisive investigation, not silence and dismissal, are what will safeguard trust in this electoral process,” the Movement concluded.
