POLITICS OF GUYANA

Politics of Guyana

Politics of Guyana

Introduction

Guyana, the only English speaking country in South America was first inhabited by the Amerindians until the era of the European exploration when the Spanish began using it as a trading post during the 16th Century. From the early 17th century onwards, the slave trade developed resulting in an influx of large numbers of Africans (whose descendants are now referred to as “Afro-Guyanese”) mostly from West and Central Africa. The first indentured labourers from what is today India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (whose descendants are referred to as Indo-Guyanese) arrived in Guyana in 1838. (Adamson, 2002) Portuguese as well as Chinese also came to Guyana as indentured labourers and together with a small group of European descendants and a small percentage of persons of mixed race, constitute today's population of the country. British Guiana, as Guyana was formerly called, achieved self-governing status in 1961 with the Head of Government, then known as Premier who was assisted by a Cabinet of Ministers and who altogether had authority over internal matters only.

Race and Politics in Guyana South America

The British government retained the responsibilities for Foreign Affairs and Defence among others, and was represented in the country by a Governor who had veto powers over the work of the elected legislature. There was a bi-cameral House of Assembly, with a lower house called the Legislative Council and an upper house called the Senate. The Legislative Council was comprised of 35 members elected under the First Past the Post system while the Senate was made up of a majority of members form the Government plus representatives from the Opposition and two nominated members chosen by the Governor after consultation with various groups. (Adamson, 2002)

In 1964 the electoral system of First Past the Post was changed to that of Proportional Representation with 53 members in a uni-cameral house due to the abolition of the Senate. The first elections held under this system resulted in the following outcome:-

* People's Progressive Party (PPP) 25 seats.

* People's National Congress (PNC) 22 seats.

* United Force (UF) 06 seats.

Since no party gained 51 per cent of the vote, a coalition government was formed between the PNC and UF with Mr. Forbes Burnham as the Premier and Mr. Peter D'Aguiar, Leader of the UF as Deputy Premier. On the achievement of independence on May 26, 1966 the name Guyana was adopted. Guyana declared republican status on February 23, 1970. Thereafter the Constitution was changed from Monarchical to Republican, with the Head of State no longer being a representative of the Queen of England as it was since 1814 when Guyana became a colony of Great Britain. Under the Republican Constitution, the titular Head of State became the President while the Prime Minister remained the Head of Government. In 1978 the National Assembly was dissolved into a constituent assembly and in 1980 the republican constitution was replaced by a new one, which coincided with the elections of that ...