Irfaan Ali Secures Second Term as President of โGuyana
Guyana’s President Irfaan ali has been re-elected for โa second consecutive term, confirmed โคby the first โofficial bulletin released โbyโ the electoral โauthority five days after the elections on Saturday. According toโ the official โคresults, Ali’s โProgressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) garnered 242,497 valid votes, representing 55% of the total electorate.
Ali had โpreemptively declared victory on Wednesday in statements to AFP. The 45-year-oldโ center-left leader pledged to utilize Guyana’s burgeoning oil wealthโข to lift the nation’s 850,000 inhabitantsโค out of poverty. He also faces the challenge of navigating โขthe โongoing dispute over the Esequibo region, aโ territoryโค rich in oil and minerals โclaimed by neighboringโ Venezuela.
The official Gazetteโ confirmed the result,stating the Guyana Electoral Commission (GECOM) “told the presidential candidate of the PPP/C,Dr.โข Mohamed Irfaan Ali, elected president.”
The newly formed “Win” party, โฃfounded byโ businessman Azruddin Mohamed (nicknamed the “guyaneseโค Trump”), โคcame in second place with 24.8% of the vote. the conventional APNU, representingโ the Afro-descendant population, secured third โplace with 17.7% ofโฃ the suffrage.
Ali, representing the majority indian-origin community, will begin a second five-year term amidst escalating tensionsโฃ with the Venezuelanโ government of Nicolรกs โคMaduro, which asserts sovereignty over theโ Esequibo region and held contested elections there in May โคappointing authorities to the area. The United States currently offers support to guyana,coinciding withโค heightened tensionsโ between the US and Venezuela following โคthe deployment of warships โin the caribbean for anti-drug operations.
The dispute over Esequibo dates backโ centuries but intensified in 2015 following the discovery of important oil reserves. Guyana currently โpossesses the โขlargestโ per capita oil reserves globally, with oil exploitation beginning in 2019. Production โis projected to reach one million barrels per dayโ (b/d) by 2030, up from โฃthe current 650,000 b/d.
This petroleum wealth has quadrupled Guyana’s state โคbudget to $6.7 billion inโข 2025 within five years, โขdriving the highest โeconomic โขgrowth in Latin America at โค43.6% in โฃ2024, with furtherโฃ increases anticipated.”We have a โlarge majority and we are ready to moveโ forward with โฃthe country,” Ali stated in a brief telephone conversation with AFP.
In termsโ of parliamentary portrayal, the โฃPPP/C securedโค 36 seats in the National Assembly, while “Win” obtained 16 โseats.โ The Alliance โfor the National Unity (APNU) won 12 seats, and the Guyana Forward Movementโข (FGM) secured โone seat.Guyana initially appealed to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2018 to validate โan 1899 award establishing the current borders.Though, Venezuela rejects the ICJ’s jurisdiction, advocating for the 1966 Geneva Agreement โasโฃ aโข basis for a negotiated resolution.
The electoral process โin Guyana is logistically complex and time-consuming due to the country’sโ challenging terrain, with overโ 95% of its territory covered by tropical jungle.