Leaders of the recently formed coalition, Forward Guyana Movement, are “furious” over the Guyana Elections Commission’s decision to reject their symbol as submitted, with one leader describing the decision as “irresponsible.”

News of FGM’s symbol being rejected by the Elections Commission came hours after the Forward Guyana Movement was solidified.

The movement represents the coming together of Forward Guyana, The People’s Movement and the Vigilant Political Action Committee to contest the upcoming elections.

Leader of Forward Guyana, Amanza Walton-Desir, said in the absence of an official correspondence from GECOM to the party, it found out that its symbol needed modification through a press release.

“It is irresponsible, it is prejudicial and it has caused a lot of anxiety, and I have since written to GECOM in those terms. Because GECOM must understand that it has a duty to facilitate free, fair and transparent processes, as well, leading up to the election. And, certainly, this is not acceptable,” Walton-Desir said.

She made the comments while on a Facebook broadcast with her coalition partners.

She said in an “informal” exchange with the the Deputy Chief Election Officer (DCEO), Aneal Giddings, she was told that GECOM had an issue with two of the logos embedded within the coalition’s wheel symbol.

“They have an issue with the Forward Guyana sign with our symbol in the wheel and they have a problem with the People’s Movement because they not want anything affecting the outline of the map,” Walton-Desir explained.

It was noted, however, that while Forward Guyana was formed just weeks ago, the People’s Movement had contested in the 2023 Local Government Elections its symbol was approved without issue.

Walton-Desir said there appears to be a clear disconnect between the Elections Commission and the Secretariat.  

With Nomination Day set for Monday, July 14, 2025, the Forward Guyana Movement remains hopeful that the issue surrounding the symbol would be rectified, so it can focus on finalizing its List of Candidates for the election.

The symbol for the Forward Guyana Movement was one of three symbols that the Elections Commission said require modification.

In a statement on Tuesday night, GECOM confirmed that 19 of 22 symbols submitted by political parties to contest in the upcoming elections were approved.

Related posts:

GECOM approves 22 party symbols for upcoming elections including WIN’s symbol Forward Guyana, the People’s Movement and V-PAC join forces in for upcoming elections GECOM disallows “jaguar” as political symbol for WIN party; Mohamed says symbol is a “Leopard” Mohamed hopeful that party symbol will be accepted and approved by GECOM