Centre-left 45-year-old politician gets new mandate to manage the South American nation’s newfound oil wealth.
Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali has been reelected for a second term, according to the country’s electoral body, after a vote that gave his party a mandate to manage the South American nation’s newfound oil riches amid a territorial dispute with Venezuela.
The elections commission said in a statement released at midnight on Sunday that Ali’s People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had won Monday’s general election, securing 55 percent of the the 65-seat parliament.
Ali’s re-election comes after the country of 800,000 people reaped a $7.5bn windfall from oil sales and royalties since ExxonMobil started pumping offshore oil in late 2019, making Guyana one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
Ali’s government, which took power in 2020, has funnelled oil revenue into building roads, schools and hospitals, and made studying at the state university free. But he now faces a diplomatic challenge as he navigates the country’s territorial dispute with Venezuela.
