GEORGETOWN, Guyana – As Guyana’s political parties prepare to make their pitch to the electorate, Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader Nigel Hughes is warning that the country is still trapped in an old, destructive pattern; one where ethnicity, not policy, determines the outcome of elections.
Speaking on Context, a current affairs talk show hosted by veteran journalist Enrico Woolford, Hughes didn’t sugarcoat it. He said that despite some signs of change in 2015, when the APNU+AFC coalition broke the traditional race-based political divide and won at the polls, ethnic voting still exerts a powerful influence over the political landscape.
“I think there was movement away from the traditional voting practice,” Hughes said, reflecting on the 2015 results. “But I think that ethnic politics still has a very strong hold on elections in the end. That’s a fact.”
His comments put a spotlight on one of Guyana’s most uncomfortable political truths, that race and ethnicity continue to shape electoral outcomes more than party manifestos or national development plans. And now, with more than US$5 billion in oil revenue already flowing into state coffers, Hughes argues that the stakes are even higher.
According to him, the real issue should be which party has the best ideas to lift Guyanese out of poverty and make use of the country’s new wealth. Instead, the battle is increasingly about who gets to control the purse, and by extension, who gets to reward their supporters.
“Unfortunately, in Guyana, the battle is who’s going to control the purse, because to control the purse means you can then give it to your supporters,” Hughes said bluntly. “And that should not be the approach.”
This, he said, has created an environment where meaningful policy discussions are often drowned out by political patronage. Voters, he suggested, are aware that there’s enough money in the system now to make real change, to fix the roads, improve healthcare, invest in education, and end poverty. But many remain locked in a political mindset shaped by race, history, and mistrust.
Hughes noted that this dynamic makes it harder for politicians to have sustained, honest conversations about national development. When the party in power can use state resources to maintain support, policy often takes a back seat to loyalty.
His remarks come at a critical moment, as the country approaches an election that could determine how billions in oil revenue will be spent, and who will benefit. With so much at stake, Hughes’s call for a shift in political culture may resonate with voters tired of the same old divisions. But whether Guyana is ready to break free from the grip of ethnic voting remains an open question.
