Guyana’s deadlock chills the investment climate

A worsening political crisis risks slowing the pace of oil sector growth in the small Latin American nation

Any hope that Guyana’s recent election would settle the country’s broiling political turmoil always looked optimistic. And so it has proved. Four months on from the poll, neither of the two main parties has conceded defeat and the impasse threatens to stall Guyana’s nascent oil sector. The election result has been dogged by accusations of voting irregularity, court injunctions and a national ballot recount. Incumbent president David Granger initially declared victory before the recount pointed to a win for opposition leader Irfaan Ali. The country’s electoral commission has yet to officially announce a result. The controversy follows a 2018 vote of no-confidence in the Granger administration