Carter Center report misses critical components of electoral conduct – GS Jagdeo

– points out report’s omission of allegations of vote-buying

While expressing satisfaction with the Carter Center’s acknowledgement that there is no indication of a bloated voters’ list, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo pointed out that critical issues appear to be missing from the report.

The general secretary made these comments during his weekly press conference at Freedom House on Thursday.

“There are other elements of the report that I have expressed concern about because…they didn’t cover all the allegations,” he said.

One of the biggest concerns, Dr Jagdeo said, was in relation to serious allegations of vote-buying by US-sanctioned businessman Azruddin Mohamed and his political party, We Invest in Nationhood (WIN).

In recent times, video evidence has surfaced showing representatives of WIN handing out sums of money to people attending their meetings in hinterland communities. One video shows this being done in the presence of Mohamed who appeared to be the sponsor.

“[This] prompted GECOM to issue a statement saying that it is illegal to buy votes or to be paid for your vote, and which also then prompted, I believe, APNU to call for a ban of the cell phones in polling places. How could they miss that big one?” Dr Jagdeo questioned.

Though the report noted that elections are primarily being conducted in a peaceful and non-violent manner, the general secretary expressed his wonder about how a situation involving WIN representative Bradley Sampson was not included in the report.

Sampson, also known as ‘Doggie’, was seen on video brutally assaulting a woman after allegedly refusing to adequately pay her for services offered to the party.

“They missed the fact that people were beaten up…the spokesperson for the WIN campaign beats a woman brutally who went to collect payment for going to a meeting. How did they miss that? How did they miss the fact that Brian Max, who is a candidate on that party’s list, threatened to kill the Minister of Education?” he asked.

The Carter Center, an established election observer body from the United States of America, was invited by the Government of Guyana to observe the 2025 General and Regional Elections. The organisation played a critical role in defending Guyana’s democracy while it was under threat during the last elections held in 2020.