Guyana: President Ali makes election date blunder, September 1 confirmed after live slip

Guyana: President Dr Irfaan Ali has officially announced that this year’s General and Regional Elections will be held on September 1, 2025. The announcement was made by him while he was addressing the 59th Independence Flag Raising Ceremony on Sunday. 

According to Dr Ali, he will soon be issuing the proclamation for the dissolution of Parliament.  

While the President initially announced December 1, 2025, as the date for elections during his speech, however, he later clarified with a Facebook post that the official date is ‘September 1, 2025’. 

The President made the blunder during his over 20 minutes long speech as he said, “I had discussions with the Chairwoman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and having been assured of their readiness, I have decided ‘the name the 1st of December, 2025’ as the date for national and regional elections.” 

However, it was later clarified through an official Facebook post on the official page of the President that the date for the upcoming elections is September 1, 2025.  

During his speech, the President also urged the citizens to show through their votes that the democratic spirit in Guyana is alive, strong, unshakeable and irreversible. He added that election must not be about two or more sides, but it must be about the Guyanese people peacefully making their choice.  

Dr Ali closed his speech by reiterating his commitment to working for Guyana and its people. 

PPP says it is ready to win 

Soon after the elections were announced, People’s Progressive Party’s General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo came out swinging and made it clear that the party is ready to win once again. 

In an official statement, he said that he welcomes Dr Ali’s announcement of September 1 as the date for the upcoming 2025 General and Regional Elections. He said that he is ready to deliver the message of continued progress to the Guyanese people.  

Jagdeo, who also serves as the Vice President of the party, added that since coming back to office in August 2020, the government hit the ground running and since then they have not looked back.  

He further detailed a list of achievements which included quick pandemic response and economic recovery. He noted that within 40 days, they passed an emergency budget to remove burdensome taxes, support vulnerable groups and also revive critical sectors in the economy.  

According to him, the PPP is set to defend its track record and also expose the opposition for any deception that is peddled. Jagdeo said that his party anticipated this, and they will meet this challenge head on and will expose their deception at every turn.