Jagdeo denies PPP is campaigning on back of state resources

Last Updated on Thursday, 21 August 2025, 21:34 by Writer

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo has flatly denied that his party is taking advantage of State resources to campaign, in response to observations by The Carter Center election observer mission.

“No,no,no! I’m happy that the President did this because the President didn’t say vote because of race. He said ‘because of our achievements, we promised you and we delivered it’,” Mr Jagdeo told Demerara Waves Online News when asked whether it was correct for the President Irfaan Ali to urge attendees in his addresses at the opening of schools and other projects to vote for the PPP.

“That’s how politics should be done globally—people campaign on their achievements. We’re proud of that. We’re extremely proud that we’re opening hospitals that bring service to people that we promise them,” he said.

Pressed on whether he did not see this as an abuse of incumbency and so creating an advantage over the PPP-Civic’s opponents on the campaign trail for the September 1 general and regional elections, Mr Jagdeo said, “No. no, no! It’s good for the growth of the country. It’s good for the growth of the political culture of the country where people go and campaign on what they’ve done; that’s a great thing.”

On the observation that attendees at a number of those events had been clad in party paraphernalia, he said “you can’t stop people from going; they’re happy about it.”

Mr Jagdeo said the then A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition administration had spent GY$419 billion after the December 2018 no-confidence motion on and before the March 2020 general and regional elections. He also recalled that the then David Granger-led government had been “busy signing large-scale contracts” before and after the polls. In contrast, Mr Jagdeo, who is also Guyana’s 2nd Vice President, said his administration had “put on hold every large contract that we’ve had.”

The Carter Center said, earlier this week in its pre-election statement, that the use of state resources for party campaigning runs contrary to Guyana’s international obligations with respect to campaign finance. “Official government statements about the opening of schools and other public buildings regularly feature public officials in full ruling-party regalia, blurring the line between the state and the party,” the Center also said.

The Center, which has been observing Guyana’s elections since 1992, said it had received multiple allegations from political parties and civil society that the ruling party has misused state resources. Social media and news reports are also rife with photographs suggestive of this problem, the Center added.

“These and similar measures can be seen to afford the ruling party an unfair advantage. While Guyana’s laws do not prohibit new government spending after an election is called, such spending runs contrary to international standards and best practices intended to ensure a level playing field,” said the organisation that has been observing elections globally for several decades.

Other reports the Centre said concerned the ruling party using state-owned vehicles to campaign and taking advantage of “10-day workers” (employed part-time by the government) in campaign activities. Since July 30, the president has announced he would promote over 2,800 Guyana Police Force officers.

Although The Carter Center says it is not conducting systematic media monitoring, the mission has noted and received reports indicating that state media coverage appears to be biased in favor of the ruling party.

Several political parties reported limited access to state media, with their events receiving little or no coverage, and one party alleged they were denied the opportunity to place advertisements in state media.

In the absence of specific legal provisions regulating media conduct during the electoral period, The Carter Center encourages state media to provide equal treatment to all political parties.

The state-owned Guyana Chronicle newspaper, National Communications Network and the Department of Public Information overwhelmingly feature ruling PPPC campaign activities to the virtual exclusion of the opposition.

President Ali often uses the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Bell 412 Epi helicopter, whose hourly operational cost ranges from US$2,500 to US$3,741, to reach far-flung interior areas.