GOVERNMENT
Legislative power rests in a unicameral National Assembly, generally referred to as Parliament, with 40 members chosen on the basis of proportional representation from national lists named by the political parties. An additional 25 members are elected by regional administrative districts. The Parliament is not directly elected; each party presents slates of candidates at the time of national elections. After the election, each party leader selects from the party lists the individuals who will represent the party in Parliament. The president may dissolve the assembly and call new elections at any time, but no later than five years from its first sitting.
Executive authority is exercised by the president, who appoints and supervises the prime minister and other ministers. As with members of Parliament, the president is not directly elected; each party presenting a slate of candidates for the assembly must designate in advance a leader who will become president if that party receives the largest number of votes. Any dissolution of the assembly and election of a new assembly can lead to a change in the assembly majority and consequently a change in the presidency. Most cabinet ministers must be members of the National Assembly; the constitution limits non-member "technocrat" ministers to five. Technocrat ministers serve as non-elected members of the National Assembly, which permits them to debate but not to vote.
The highest
judicial body is the Court of Appeal, headed by a chancellor of
the judiciary. The second level is the High Court, presided over
by a chief justice. The chancellor and the chief justice are appointed
by the president.
For
administrative purposes, Guyana is divided into 10 regions, each
headed by a chairman who presides over a regional democratic council.
Local communities are administered by village or city councils.
POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
Race and ideology have been the dominant political influences
in Guyana. Since the split of the multiracial PPP in 1955, politics
has been based more on ethnicity than on ideology. From 1964 to
1992, the PNC dominated Guyana's politics. The PNC draws its support
primarily from urban Blacks, and for many years declared itself
a socialist party whose purpose was to make Guyana a nonaligned
socialist state, in which the party, as in communist countries,
was above all other institutions.
A majority of Indo-Guyanese have traditionally backed the People's Progressive Party. Rice farmers and sugar workers in the rural areas form the bulk of PPP's support. Indo-Guyanese who dominate the country's urban business community also have provided important support to both parties, depending on which was in power at the time.
Following
independence, and with the help of substantial foreign aid, social
benefits were provided to a broader section of the population,
specifically in health, education, housing, road and bridge building,
agriculture, and rural development. During Forbes Burnham's last
years, however, the government's attempts to build a socialist
society caused a massive emigration of skilled workers, and, along
with other economic factors, led to a significant decline in the
overall quality of life in Guyana.
After
Burnham's death in 1985, President Hoyte took steps to stem the
economic decline, including strengthening financial controls over
the parastatal corporations and supporting the private sector.
In August 1987, at a PNC Congress, Hoyte announced that the PNC
rejected orthodox communism and the one-party state.
As
the elections scheduled for 1990 approached, Hoyte, under increasing
pressure from inside and outside Guyana, gradually opened the
political system. After a visit to Guyana by former U.S. President
Jimmy Carter in 1990, Hoyte made changes in the electoral rules,
appointed a new chairman of the Elections Commission, and endorsed
putting together new voters' lists, thus delaying the election.
The elections, which finally took place in 1992, were witnessed
by 100 international observers, including a group headed by Mr.
Carter and another from the commonwealth of nations. Both groups
issued reports saying that the elections had been free and fair,
despite violent attacks on the Elections Commission building on
election day and other irregularities.
Cheddi
Jagan served as Premier (1957-64) and then minority leader in
Parliament until his election as President in 1992. One of the
Caribbean's most charismatic and famous leaders, Jagan was a founder
of the PPP, which led Guyana's struggle for independence. Over
the years, he moderated his Marxist-Leninist ideology. After his
election as President, Jagan demonstrated a commitment to democracy,
followed a pro-Western foreign policy, adopted free market policies,
and pursued sustainable development for Guyana's environment.
Nonetheless, he continued to press for debt relief and a new global
human order in which developed countries would increase assistance
to less developed nations. Jagan died on March 6, 1997, and was
succeeded by Samuel A. Hinds, whom he had appointed Prime Minister.
President Hinds then appointed Janet Jagan, widow of the late
President, to serve as Prime Minister.
In
national elections on December 15, 1997, Janet Jagan was elected
President, and her PPP party won a 55% majority of seats in Parliament.
She was sworn in on December 19. Mrs. Jagan is a founding member
of the PPP and was very active in party politics. She was Guyana's
first female prime minister and vice president, two roles she
performed concurrently before being elected to the presidency.
The PNC, which won just under 40% of the vote, disputed the results of the 1997 elections, alleging electoral fraud. Public demonstrations and some violence followed, until a CARICOM team came to Georgetown to broker an accord between the two parties, calling for an international audit of the election results, a redrafting of the constitution, and elections under the constitution within 3 years. Elections took place on March 19, 2001. More than 150 international observers representing six international missions witnessed the polling. The observers pronounced the elections fair and open although marred by some administrative problems. As in 1997, public demonstrations and some violence followed the election, with the opposition PNCR disputing the results. The political disturbances following the election partially overlapped and politicized a major crime wave that gripped Guyana from the spring of 2002 through May 2003. By summer 2003 the worst of the crime wave had abated, and agitation over the election had subsided.
A lack of legal clarity over voter registration rules, in particular the
legality of Guyanese remaining on the voter rolls after emigrating, fed a
political stalemate that delayed the 2006 elections as opposition parties
demanded a full house-to-house verification of the voter list. Ultimately, the
election was held using the 2001 voting list--which the opposition had earlier
deemed valid--plus new registrations. The Organization of American States and
the Commonwealth observed the 2006 elections and considered them to be largely
free and fair.
In early 2008, national electoral authorities commenced a voter re-registration exercise, scrutinized by the major political parties, in order to produce a fresh and widely accepted voter list. This exercise concludes in July 2008, in anticipation of nationwide municipal elections in early 2009. Municipal elections have not been held since 1994.
A general lack of trust between the predominantly Indo-Guyanese PPP/C and the almost exclusively Afro-Guyanese PNC/R persists. Co-founded prior to the 2006 parliamentary elections by disaffected members of the PPP/C and PNC/R, the Alliance For Change party has attempted to bridge the political and racial divide, but holds only five seats in Parliament and has gained minimal traction.
Due to constitutional term limits, President Jagdeo is not eligible to run for reelection again when his terms concludes in 2011. There is no established frontrunner to succeed him.
Principal
Government Officials
Executive President--Bharrat Jagdeo
Prime Minister--Samuel Hinds
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett
Ambassador to the U.S. and OAS--Bayney Karran
Permanent Representative to the UN--Charge d' Affaires George Talbot
Guyana
maintains an embassy
in the United States at 2490 Tracy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008
(tel. 202-265-6900
Government
Type: Republic within the Commonwealth.
Independence: May 26, 1966; Republic, February 23, 1970.
Constitution: 1980.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state and head of government), prime minister. Legislative--unicameral National Assembly of 65 deputies. The ten administrative regions of the country elect 25 members, 40 are elected from party lists by proportion of the national vote. Judicial--Judicial Court of Appeal, High Court.
Subdivisions: 10 regions.
Political parties (voting seats in the National Assembly): People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) 36; People's National Congress (PNC) 22; Alliance for Change (AFC) 5, Guyana Action Party/Rise Organize and Rebuild (GAP/ROAR) 1; and The United Force (TUF) 1. Presidential and parliamentary elections were last held August 28, 2006.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
