2011 Guyanese general election
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All 65 seats in the National Assembly 33 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Constitution |
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General elections were held in Guyana on 28 November 2011.[1] The result was a victory for the People's Progressive Party/Civic, which won 32 of the 65 seats.[2] Thus even though the combined parliamentary opposition, consisting of the A Partnership for National Unity coalition (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC), managed to secure an absolute majority of 33 seats, as they had not run as a single list it was Donald Ramotar of the PPP/C (the largest single party) who assumed the presidency, and not David A. Granger of the PNCR (which heads the opposition).
Electoral system
[edit]The 65 members of the National Assembly were elected by closed list proportional representation in two groups; 25 members were elected from the 10 electoral districts based on the regions, and 40 elected from a single nationwide constituency.[3] Seats were allocated using the Hare quota.
The President was elected by a first-past-the-post double simultaneous vote system, whereby each list nominated a presidential candidate and the presidential election itself was won by the candidate of the list having a plurality.[3]
Presidential candidates
[edit]The ruling People's Progressive Party/Civic nominated Donald Ramotar, the party's general secretary and advisor to outgoing President Bharrat Jagdeo.[2] A Partnership for National Unity (an alliance of the People's National Congress Reform, the Guyana Action Party and the Working People's Alliance)[4] nominated David A. Granger, a former commander of the Guyana Defence Force. The Alliance for Change did not join the APNU, and opted to run alone, fielding party leader Khemraj Ramjattan as its presidential candidate.[3] The United Force nominated Peter Persaud as its presidential candidates following a leadership dispute.[3]
Police protection
[edit]Election day was declared a national holiday and troops patrolled the streets in order to prevent violence as had happened in previous elections.
Results
[edit]Party | Presidential candidate | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constituency | Top-up | Total | +/– | ||||||
People's Progressive Party/Civic | Donald Ramotar | 166,340 | 48.60 | 13 | 19 | 32 | –4 | ||
A Partnership for National Unity | David Granger | 139,678 | 40.81 | 10 | 16 | 26 | +3 | ||
Alliance for Change | Khemraj Ramjattan | 35,333 | 10.32 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +2 | ||
The United Force | Peter Persaud | 885 | 0.26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | ||
Total | 342,236 | 100.00 | 25 | 40 | 65 | 0 | |||
Valid votes | 342,236 | 98.71 | |||||||
Invalid/blank votes | 4,481 | 1.29 | |||||||
Total votes | 346,717 | 100.00 | |||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 475,496 | 72.92 | |||||||
Source: GECOM, Commonwealth Observer Group |
By region
[edit]Region | APNU | PPP/C | AFC | TUF | Hare quota | Total votes | Total seats | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | |||||||||
Barima-Waini | 887 | 17.06 | 1 | 3,472 | 66.77 | 1 | 786 | 15.12 | 0 | 55 | 1.06 | 2,600 | 5,200 | 2 | |||||
Pomeroon-Supenaam | 3,287 | 18.28 | 0 | 12,555 | 69.83 | 2 | 2,086 | 11.60 | 0 | 51 | 0.28 | 8,990 | 17,979 | 2 | |||||
Essequibo Islands-West Demerara | 14,028 | 27.58 | 1 | 33,424 | 65.71 | 2 | 3,343 | 6.57 | 0 | 70 | 0.14 | 16,955 | 50,865 | 3 | |||||
Demerara-Mahaica | 84,828 | 54.20 | 4 | 60,851 | 38.88 | 3 | 10,635 | 6.79 | 0 | 201 | 0.13 | 22,359 | 156,515 | 7 | |||||
Mahaica-Berbice | 8,906 | 34.83 | 1 | 13,558 | 53.02 | 1 | 3,079 | 12.04 | 0 | 29 | 0.11 | 12,786 | 25,572 | 2 | |||||
East Berbice-Corentyne | 10,798 | 19.68 | 0 | 32,360 | 58.97 | 2 | 11,634 | 21.20 | 1 | 83 | 0.15 | 18,292 | 54,875 | 3 | |||||
Cuyuni-Mazaruni | 2,843 | 48.95 | 1 | 2,376 | 40.91 | 1 | 505 | 8.69 | 0 | 84 | 1.45 | 2,904 | 5,808 | 2 | |||||
Potaro-Siparuni | 739 | 28.75 | 0 | 741 | 28.83 | 0 | 995 | 38.72 | 1 | 95 | 3.70 | 2,570 | 2,570 | 1 | |||||
Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo | 2,004 | 27.57 | 0 | 4,135 | 56.89 | 1 | 946 | 13.02 | 0 | 183 | 2.52 | 7,268 | 7,268 | 1 | |||||
Upper Demerara-Berbice | 11,358 | 72.88 | 2 | 2,868 | 18.40 | 0 | 1,324 | 8.50 | 0 | 34 | 0.22 | 7,792 | 15,584 | 2 | |||||
National Assembly top up | 139,678 | 40.81 | 16 | 166,340 | 48.60 | 19 | 35,333 | 10.32 | 5 | 885 | 0.26 | 5,265 | 342,236 | 65 | |||||
Source: GECOM Guyana Election Law |
Aftermath
[edit]The PPP/C won for the fifth straight time, but with a minority government. PPP/C candidate Donald Ramotar was elected President, but the opposition parties won a majority in the National Assembly.
References
[edit]- ^ "Opposition parties warn GECOM about pitfalls of re-opening registration". Demerara Waves. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- ^ a b Guyana governing party's Donald Ramotar wins election BBC News, 1 December 2011
- ^ a b c d Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group - GUYANA NATIONAL AND REGIONAL ELECTIONS, 28 November 2011
- ^ About APNU Archived 2011-11-28 at the Wayback Machine APNU