The Guyanese people have won the battle!
On 2 August, Dr Irfaan Ali of the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) was sworn-in as Guyana’s 9th Executive President. This ended a protracted electoral process driven by the incumbent APNU/AFC regime, which was refusing to bow to the will of the people of Guyana, as expressed through the ballot box on 2 March 2020. Dr Irfaan Ali was sworn-in by Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards, following a final declaration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
President Ali combines youth and experience both personally and in his leadership team. The latter includes his Prime Minister, Mark Philips, with a decades-long organisational background as a senior officer of the Guyana Defence Force, together with the former president of the Republic of Guyana, Bharat Jagdeo, who has promised to place all his experience at the service of the new administration.
Dr Ali brings to the presidency the know-how gained during a long and diverse career at all levels of government. He previously served as a government minister under the PPP/C, with responsibility for major sectors including housing, tourism, and commerce.
Liberation is glad that, after five months of struggle, the Guyanese people have secured a democratic outcome and that their voice has asserted itself in the Caribbean state.
Liberation has enjoyed close relations with the comrades of the PPP/C, both in Britain and Guyana, and has fully supported the campaign of the Guyanese people to ensure that the APNU/AFC government abided by the results of the election and accepted defeat. IT welcomes the insistence of the international community that the outcome of the 2 March election be respected, leaving no space for the APNU/AFC regime to manoeuvre its way out of handing executive power over to those chosen by the Guyanese people. Granger, the former president, finally conceded defeat on 2 August, five months after the election, amid mounting international pressure.
Liberation sees this as the victory of the rule of law over the refusal to comply with the democratic wishes of the people. We are sure that the highly effective and transparent campaign run by the PPP/C, using every legal channel available, will become a case study for all involved in the struggle for democracy and the rule of law across the world. Liberation looks forward with optimism to Guyana’s new chapter and to reporting on the implementation of the progressive people-based policies of the new government.
Photo: Guyana’s new president Irfaan Ali
