The Nigel Hughes-led Alliance For Change (AFC) has been kicked out of the benches of the parliamentary opposition while its former coalition partner, the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), headed by Aubrey Norton, has lost significant political power.
The vote count of Monday’s General and Regional Elections shows that the AFC struggled to secure enough votes to earn a seat in the National Assembly while the APNU’s parliamentary influence has weakened.
The main parliamentary opposition will now comprise the We Invest Nationhood (WIN) party headed by US-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed.
President Dr Irfaan Ali is poised to begin a second term in office as the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is heading for a resounding electoral victory.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is still to officially declare the results.
Once an emerging third force in Guyana, the AFC had won 5 out of 65 seats in Parliament at the 2006 elections and seven in 2011. It teamed up with the APNU in 2015 and together they won that year’s elections but their term was cut short in 2018 when the government fell to a no-confidence motion.
In 2020, AFC’s popularity declined. Together, the APNU and AFC had held 31 seats in the National Assembly, forming the main parliamentary opposition. Of these, the AFC itself occupied 9 of those seats, while the remaining 22 were held by APNU politicians.
In addition to the National Assembly, APNU and AFC have lost power at the regional levels.
Projections show that the PPP/C has gained control of seven regions including Region Four – formerly a stronghold of the APNU.
WIN is projected to win at least two regions which were also previously strongholds of the APNU.
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