| Full name: | Mohamed Irfaan Ali |
| Birth date: | April 25, 1980 |
| Place of birth: | Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara, Guyana |
| Education: | Doctor of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of the West Indies Jamaica |
| Political positions before the presidency: | Minister of Housing and Water, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Trade, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Vice Chairman of the Economic Services Sector Committee of the Parliament of Guyana. |
On March 2, 2020 Irfaan Ali He was elected Guyana's tenth president, a position he did not hold until six months later due to the dispute over his electoral victory, which led to a vote recount.
The former English colony has been independent since 1966 and has experienced several political instabilities, including territorial disputes. And from 2015 onwards, local tensions took on a new component: Discovery of oil in deep waters in the Essequibo region.
The large deposits boost the economy of the small, poor country with just over 800,000 inhabitants. According to the IMF (International Monetary Fund), Guyana's GDP (gross domestic product) grew by 62.3% in 2022 to a total of $15.3 billion, the highest real growth in the world.
From time to time, the region makes international headlines again as Venezuela once again lays claim to the oil discovered in 2015. Meanwhile, Irfaan Ali is present among the people of Guyana, with whom he says he is usually close, “in defense of sovereignty”.
Who is Irfaan Ali?
Mohamed Irfaan Ali is a politician and urban planner, born on April 25, 1980 in Leonora, a village on the EssequiboWest Demerara islands on the east coast of Guyana. Both his parents came from a Muslim family of Indian descent and were educators.
Ali has a doctorate in urban and regional planning from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and was a parliamentarian from 2006 to 2015. In 2009 he was appointed Minister of Housing and Water. Shortly afterwards, he simultaneously took over the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Trade during the government of the Popular Progressive/Civic Party (PPP/C), of which he has been a member for over 20 years.
As Minister of Housing and Water, Ali was responsible for implementing the largest land donation campaign ever undertaken in Guyana. At that time, the properties were massively distributed to population groups from different regions and social classes in the country.
In 2015, his party was defeated in the elections and he subsequently became Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and ViceChairman of the Economic Services Sector Committee of the Parliament of Guyana. In these positions he distinguished himself as one of the most important experts in finance and economics.
Before Ali was elected President of the Republic, he also coordinated the Caribbean Development Bank.
Troubled elections
The election that brought Irfaan Ali to the highest post on the federal executive board was marked by turmoil and suspicions of fraud.
The PPP/C was the opposition party and competed with the National Unity and Alliance for Change (ANPUAFC) coalition, whose candidate was the country's current president, David Granger. The election was turbulent and led to challenges from both parties.
At that time, thenPresident David Granger pushed for a vote recount after a change in counting protocol occurred in one of the precincts. The PPP, in turn, appealed immediately after voting ended when international observers claimed that the results in the most populous constituency had been inflated in Granger's favor. After all resources were exhausted and the count was conducted again, Ali's victory was confirmed with a difference of just over 15,000 votes, giving the PPP/C 33 seats in the National Assembly, compared to 31 for the ruling bloc.
In his government program, whose slogan is “One Guyana”, the new president prioritized measures in the political, economic and social areas. Measures included in the project include income distribution programs, tax cuts, salary increases for civil servants and teachers, construction of affordable housing, and incentives for mining and agriculture. To avoid new electoral crises, the government also committed to electoral and constitutional reforms.
Tension between Venezuela and Essequibo
Although tensions in the region have recently come back into the spotlight, they have existed for centuries.
In 1899, when Guyana was still a British colony, an international arbitration award recognized the region west of the Essequibo River as part of British Guiana. The region corresponds to around two thirds of the country's area, and it is precisely this area that Venezuela claims as its own.
The two countries signed the Geneva Convention with the United Kingdom in 1966, four years before Guyana's independence. Following the Venezuelan challenge to the 1899 report that established the two boundaries, the possibility of forming a commission to find “a satisfactory solution” to the impasse was raised, but this never happened.
With the discovery of oil in Essequibo, the impasse came to the surface again. In 2018, the matter ended up at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) when Guyana asked the authority to validate the 1899 arbitration decision. Venezuela, in turn, lodged a formal objection to Guyana's claim with the International Court of Justice, reiterating its disagreement. There is still no forecast about the court's final decision.
The surge in Guyana's GDP following the discovery of oil earned it the nickname “Dubai of South America.” As of October 2023, oil and gas reserves totaled around 11 billion barrels, putting the country in 17th place in the world ranking of proven reserves.
Currently, Guyana produces around 380,000 barrels per day and plans to reach 1.2 million barrels per day in 2027.