GEORGETOWN – The cost of Guyana’s recent political contest is sparking a high-stakes war of words, with Vice President and PPP General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo furiously dismissing claims that his party spent a whopping GY$5 billion on its 2025 election campaign. At a press conference yesterday, Jagdeo branded the figure, published by Demerara Waves Online News, as a “blatant lie,” which alleged the funds were used for everything from promotional materials and artistes to extensive land and air transportation.
Dr. Jagdeo asserted that the PPP/C did not spend much more than the former opposition, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which the same publication claimed spent roughly GY$300 million. The Vice President sarcastically suggested he had believed the APNU spent far less, given their “mediocre” performance and campaign output.
However, the spending dispute brings into sharp focus the consistent warnings from international observers about the unfair use of state resources in Guyanese elections. Leading up to the 2020 elections, observer missions, including those from the European Union, repeatedly criticized the then-incumbent APNU+AFC government for the “misuse of state resources” which created an uneven playing field.
This practice was particularly egregious as the administration remained in office, and was allegedly spending public funds, for five months after losing the 2020 election, despite the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling that the government should have been in “caretaker mode” since the 2018 No-Confidence Motion.
While Jagdeo vigorously defends his party’s financial practices and claims APNU spent significantly more, the lack of campaign finance regulations continues to plague Guyana. International bodies have repeatedly called for laws that prohibit the misuse of state resources to fund political parties, stressing that inadequate financial transparency and accountability laws damage trust and perpetuate an unbalanced political arena.
Thus, while the PPP rejects the sensational $5 billion claim, the underlying structural problem, where state power can blur with party funds, remains the central concern for maintaining democratic fairness.
Shut up fool. what evidence you have. if none withdraw these dunce statements and wipe your brain wit toilet tissue