Azruddin Mohamed flip-flops on party symbol

Last Updated on Sunday, 29 June 2025, 23:00 by Writer

Leader of We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) Azruddin Mohamed has been flip-flopping on whether his party’s political symbol is a jaguar or a leopard.

Mr Mohamed on Sunday fended off questions that in one of his social media posts, he was seen in a picture with what was obviously a jaguar because that animal’s coat includes rosettes with dots in the middle. “No, no, no! It was like an Internet picture someone has created and we just posted as a sticker,” he told Demerara Waves Online News.

The WIN party leader said he was yet to receive formal notification from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) that that seven-member body last Friday rejected his symbol because the jaguar is part of the country’s Coat-of-Arms. Last Friday, he said the symbol is a leopard’s face and that he would be challenging GECOM’s decision if the election management authority continues to blank his symbol.

The records also show Mr Mohamed on a Facebook Livestream on Matthews Ridge Neighbourhood Watch on June 14, 2025 telling attendees at a public meeting that “The WIN stands for We Invest in Nationhood, simply means we invest in the people. Our colour is the royal blue. Blue is the main colour, and white and black and the symbol is the jaguar.”

Based on his latest position that the symbol is that of a leopard, Mr Mohamed was asked why he wanted to use that animal which, unlike the jaguar, is not connected to Guyana or any other part of South America. He responded, saying that when the picture was submitted to GECOM, “we thought it was one of a jaguar but afterwards when we checked it out, then we realised that the picture is a leopard.”

Another contradiction that appeared to have emerged was during his WIN social media launch on June 23, 2025, a clip of a jaguar was included.

Ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC)-nominated Election Commissioner, Sase Gunraj last Friday said that “After discussion on the concerns regarding the use of Indigenous symbols by political parties, the (GECOM) Chair (Retired Justice Claudette Singh) ruled that pursuant to Article 7 of the Constitution of Guyana, the supreme law, which outlines the duty of citizens to respect national symbols, the use of the Jaguar which is part of the Coat of Arms, is not acceptable.” Her decision was supported by the three PPPC Commissioners.

But pro-A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Election Commissioner, Vincent Alexander disagreed with the GECOM Chairman’s reported decision. He said that without any reference to the solemnity of the use of the jaguar as a symbol, it is beyond reason or logic for the Chair to have concluded that an element of the Coat of Arms, the jaguar, is what the Constitution meant when it specified the Court of Arms, among other national symbols. “If an element was meant, then there is much to be undone, since other elements of the Coat of Arms, such as the pick-axe, the Canje Pheasant and Victoria Regia, among others, are frequently used by various organizations, including political parties, and on various occasions.