APNU’s hatred for PPP dominated its failed political strategy – GS Jagdeo

The Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition’s failure to win a single region during the 2025 general and regional elections came as no surprise to the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).

Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, the PPP’S general secretary, offered his viewpoint on the opposition’s downfall during a press conference at Freedom House, Georgetown on Thursday.

He told reporters that it was the opposition’s “hatred” for the PPP that dominated its political strategy, which eventually led to its political destruction.

According to him, the People’s National Congress/Reform-led APNU chose emotion over reason in shaping its approach, saying, “When a political party allows your hatred of the other to dominate your tactics and your strategy, you will fail.”

He explained that APNU “put all their eggs in one basket,” relying heavily on collaboration with smaller opposition groups to try to bring down the PPP/C government. But this strategy was never grounded in rational political calculation. Instead, it was based on an obsessive desire to remove the ruling party from office at any cost.

By aligning itself with “transactional” actors, APNU undermined its credibility and, ““We saw it coming.”

He said that PPP/C officials had warned APNU leaders that they were on course to become “the third force in Parliament,” but they refused to heed the warning.

On election night itself, Dr Jagdeo recalled that before statements of poll were fully tallied, he predicted it would be “a tough night for APNU’ and the results declared by GECOM confirmed his assessment.

He informed reporters that APNU now faces the task of rebuilding but insisted that the coalition’s leaders must first come to terms with how their animosity toward the PPP clouded political judgment.

“If their hatred of the PPP clouded good sense, then they have to decide how they are going to confront that variable,” he added.

While he noted that APNU will continue to “hate” the PPP, Dr Jagdeo suggested that effective opposition requires a more constructive posture, one that balances rivalry with cooperation on matters of national importance.

“There was always room for collaboration on national issues with APNU historically,” he said, adding that the coalition will now have to decide whether it can adapt or resign itself to irrelevance.

In the PPP/C’s case, Dr Jagdeo said the elections confirmed what its leadership had long argued, that its development agenda and national outreach would translate into electoral success.

“I feel sorry for them in a way,” he concluded, “but they brought this upon themselves.”