Selling and outselling

Jul 26, 2025 Editorial, News

Kaieteur News – Three of the main parties in the September 1^st elections are aiming high. Interesting how they are trying anything to outdo each other. Guyanese now occupy a coveted seat like Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, in Homer’s Iliad. She had numerous suitors falling over themselves to get her attention, and claim her hand in that tightest of inseparable bonds, marriage. Similarly, all the political contestants here are in a race to beat down the doors of Guyanese voters, and plead their case before those citizens for their nod, a vote that favors.

In the context of Guyana’s elections, six parties have been finalized, and are battling for victory on September 1^st. It is who in the voting public will extend their hand and make a mark for the PPPC, or APNU, or AFC, or any of the other three suitors. All of the political champions who had so little time with, so little patience for, and so little interest in ordinary Guyanese and how they were living, are working hard to sell, then outsell their competitors. They are a whir of tireless activity, like a high-performance fan. Parsing through their selling points, it is about who is going to do what, and then who is planning to do more. At least, if their promises are to be taken at face value, these are the pictures presented.

The opposition parties have some heavy lifting to do, have found the going hard. The governing PPPC is flying high with some high-cost commitments. For sheer magnitude, what the PPPC is promising represents projects that are massive, and undertakings that are sure to cost huge chunks of money, if they were ever to get off the ground. A cutting edge, multi vessel marine facility will not come cheaply, with the same to be said for a natural gas plant. One of the less mouthwatering visions of the PPPC is an artificial intelligence (AI) center that has a bill of only US$200M. If that is considered to be on the smaller side, when compared to the bigger ones, imagine the costs for the more expensive ones.

The APNU had spoken about immediate increases for a wide array of public servants, as well as pensioners and others who are struggling to make ends meet. Increasing the tax threshold has been another high point in what the major opposition party has presented as its menu of promises. The AFC, a smaller opposition group now seemingly hanging on by its fingernails, named among its post electoral priorities, pensioners and those with disabilities, and transportation relief. These are areas in which it would look to make immediate improvements in the lives of Guyanese who have their noses pressed against the grindstone. No political party of standing faces the electorate without saying something about more and better jobs. So far, none of the three larger and older parties have disappointed, and have followed that well-worn track to win the hearts of Guyanese voters. They know that the older voters will be thinking of the prospects for their working age children, and highlighting job creation is always part of an appealing campaign hand.

No party in the ‘Big Three’ is talking about borrowing more, and none of them has made a big deal about oil, Guyana’s main economic driver. But they are singing and selling how much they are going to spend to get the job done. Meaning, spending whatever is required to keep their election promises. The three smaller parties are still firming up their final presentation packages, but those are almost certain to contain elements in some size or shape, relative to what the more seasoned parties have put before voters across Guyana. If there is one aspect of the campaigns of the three larger political groups in the September 1^st race that stands out, it is that both the APNU and AFC favor putting money in the hands of the squeezed and struggling in Guyana. On the other hand, the PPPC is still in its building mindset, given some of what it has put before the voter. Whether these rich promises are kept, the future will confirm or deny. Meanwhile, the selling and dueling are now beginning.

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Editorial, Guyana Elections, outselling, selling

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Selling and outselling

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