Irfaan Ali reelected for second term as oil rich Guyana’s president

After a vote that gave his party the authority to manage the South American nation’s newly discovered oil riches amid a territorial dispute with Venezuela, President of Guyana Irfaan Ali was re-elected for a second term, according to the electoral body.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the general election on September 1st, according to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), securing 55% of the 65-seat parliament.

Since ExxonMobil started pumping offshore oil in late 2019, Guyana is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, where the nation of 800, 000 people has a $7.5 billion windfall from oil sales and royalties since Ali’s re-election.

Ali’s administration, which became in office in 2020, has funded the construction of roads, hospitals, and schools, as well as providing free tuition for students at state universities. He now faces diplomatic difficulties as he navigates Venezuela’s territorial dispute.

On Wednesday, Ali already claimed victory in the elections.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wrote on X, said he is looking forward to strengthening India-Guyana ties, was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Ali for his victory.

Ali told X on Saturday that he looked forward to working with Modi and India to “prolong our already strong and cordial relations.”

The British Embassy praised Ali and Guyana “for a successful and peaceful election” in a statement on X.

Ali, a 45-year-old center-left leader, also has the pressure of making sure that the people of Guyana, where the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is soars, receive the benefits of its vast oil wealth. More than half of the population still lives in poverty despite the country’s exploding GDP.

With 24.8% of the vote, Ali’s main rival, multi-millionaire Azruddin Mohamed, whose party’s newly formed We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, came in second place with its main rival.

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which accounts for the majority of the country’s Afro-Guyanese population, came in third place with 17.7%.

At a time when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claims sovereignty over the oil-rich Essequibo region and appointed authorities for that region in contentious elections held in May, Ali, whose party enjoys a large majority of its support from the Indo-Guyanese community, will serve for a second five-year term.

The United States supports Ali, which is also causing tensions with Venezuela as a result of the Caribbean’s deployment of warships for anti-drug operations.

In the event that his country is attacked by US forces, Maduro has recently stated that the US military construction in the Caribbean is intended to “declare a republic in arms.”

The Essequibo region dispute dates back to at least the Despite being foretold for a long time, it grew even more tenacious in 2015 as a result of the discovery of significant oil resources.

Guyana currently has the largest oil reserves per person in the world, with a projected one million barrels of oil per day production by 2030, up from the current 650,000.

With a 43.6% increase in global economic growth in 2024, the state budget has quadrupled in five years, leading to a $6.7 billion state budget in 2025.