GY$5 billion PPP election campaign spending “a blatant lie” – PPP General Secretary

Last Updated on Thursday, 2 October 2025, 22:06 by Writer

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday debunked as a “blatant lie” that his party spent at least GY$5 billion on campaigning for the September 1 general and regional elections.

“This a blatant lie,” he said when asked by Demerara Waves Online News.

Instead, he said his party spent a little more than the GY$300 million that A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) said it shelled out for campaigning. “We didn’t spend much more than APNU so let that be your guide,” he said.

Pressed on whether the PPP’s campaign expenditure included the advantage of incumbency and use of those resources which was also mentioned in the original story, Mr Jagdeo said that was enjoyed by then President David Granger of APNU+Alliance For Change coalition administration. Mr Jagdeo said Mr Granger also used the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) helicopter to “go everywhere”, something that had been justified by then public security minister Khemraj Ramjattan as an advantage of contesting an election while in office.

Demerara Waves Online News declined to disclose to Mr Jagdeo the source that revealed that the PPP spent GY$5 billion on its election campaign. In response, the PPP General Secretary said, “That’s what people do, they hide behind sources. If I was to come here every time and hide behind a source, then we would never find the truth.”

Virtually all of the international election observer missions stated that the opposition was subjected to an unfair advantage by the PPPC’s incumbency.

Referring to concerns about almost unfettered access to publicly-funded state media for electioneering, he questioned how that could have disadvantaged opponents cost-wise.

He said the PPPC opted to use a digital campaign because the newspapers “are not reaching anyone”. “We didn’t advertise in the newspapers much. Nobody reads the newspapers and our digital campaign costs us an unbelievably low sum,” he said.

Mr Jagdeo said the PPPC spent less on its digital campaign and advertising budget in 2025 compared to 2020 when there was a heavy focus on high-priced newspaper advertising.