Forward Guyana Movement’s “A Contract With Guyana” calls for first-past-the post electoral system, shared governance

Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 August 2025, 19:07 by Writer

Three small political parties, under the umbrella of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), on Tuesday unveiled “A Contract With Guyana” containing a series of promises, including a return to first-the-post constituency electoral system, to Guyanese for the September 1, 2025 general and regional elections.

The 39-page document, which was symbolically signed by FGM leader and presidential candidate, Amanza Walton-Desir; leader of The People’s Movement (TPM) Nigel Nyambe London, and leader of the Vigilant Political Action Committee (V-PAC) Dorwain Bess, also calls for shared governance.

The FGM Leader stressed the importance of constitutional reform to provide for the scrapping of the proportional representation (PR) system and a return to the pre-1964 constituency-based first-past-the-post electoral system to allow for direct election of parliamentarians. “We are the generation that will see power being returned to the people. We are the generation that will see an end to the list system, where if you ‘suck up to the head of the list or you could curry favour, then , yes, you are guaranteed a seat in Parliament,” said Ms Walton-Desir, a former People’s National Congress Reform member and APNU+AFC parliamentarian.

Advocates of the PR system say it allows for full parliamentary representation of voters as far as possible, in contrast to the constituency system that only allows for parliamentary representation of only winners even by a slim one-vote majority.

Ms Walton-Desir said FGM did not consult with organised private sector, labour or civil society but took into consideration of their views that are already in the public domain. She said the document was formulated with inputs from V-PAC, TPM and several experts here and overseas. “A number of position papers have been put out by these entities that continue to be ignored. We have looked at a number of those to see what their positions are on particular issues,” she said.

The FGM singled out collective bargaining.