2006 Guyanese general election

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2006 Guyanese general election
Flag of Guyana.svg
  2001 28 August 2006 2011  

All 65 seats in the National Assembly
33 seats needed for a majority
Registered492,369
Turnout69.34%
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Jagdeo03032007.jpg Leader of Opposition Mr. Robert Corbin 2006 (cropped).jpg Raphael Trotman (cropped).jpg
Candidate Bharrat Jagdeo Robert Corbin Raphael Trotman
Party PPP/C PNCR-1G AFC
Seats won36225
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 2Decrease2.svg 5Increase2.svg 5
Popular vote183,887114,60828,366
Percentage54.67%34.07%8.43%
SwingIncrease2.svg1.71ppDecrease2.svg7.76ppNew

 Fourth partyFifth party
  3x4.svg 3x4.svg
Candidate Chandra N. Sharma Manzoor Nadir
Party GAPROAR TUF
Seats won11
Seat changeDecrease2.svg2Steady2.svg
Popular vote4,2492,694
Percentage1.26%0.80%
SwingDecrease2.svg2.05ppIncrease2.svg0.07pp

2006 Guyanese general election results by region.svg
Results by district

President before election

Bharrat Jagdeo
PPP/C

Elected President

Bharrat Jagdeo
PPP/C

General elections were held in Guyana on 28 August 2006. They were initially scheduled for 4 August, but were moved to 28 August after President Jagdeo dissolved the National Assembly on 2 May. [1] The result was a victory for the ruling People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), which won 36 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly.

Contents

Electoral system

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. [2] 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. [2]

There were a total of 1999 polling places, open from 06:00 to 18:00, [3] and election day was declared a national holiday to encourage voter turnout. [4]

Campaign

The PPP/C of incumbent President Bharrat Jagdeo was ahead in the opinion polls and was expected to keep its majority in the National Assembly. [5] The main campaign topics were crime, drugs and the economy. [4]

Conduct

Observation teams from the Organization of American States (OAS), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Commonwealth Observer Group, and the Carter Center attended the elections. Troops patrolled the streets in order to prevent violence. [5]

Results

PartyPresidential
candidate
Votes%Seats
ConstituencyTop-upTotal+/–
People's Progressive Party/Civic Bharrat Jagdeo 183,88754.67152136+2
People's National Congress Reform–One Guyana Robert Corbin 114,60834.0791322–5
Alliance for Change Raphael Trotman 28,3668.43145New
Guyana Action PartyROAR Chandra N. Sharma 4,2491.26011–2
The United Force Manzoor Nadir 2,6940.80011+1
Justice for All Party Paul Hardy 2,5710.760000
Total336,375100.002540650
Valid votes336,37598.52
Invalid/blank votes5,0511.48
Total votes341,426100.00
Registered voters/turnout492,36969.34
Source: EAB, Guyana News and Information

Elected members

Alliance for ChangeGuyana Action Party–ROARPeople's National Congress ReformPeople's Progressive Party/CivicThe United Force
Source: The Official Gazette

Aftermath

By virtue of being the leader of the party winning the most seats, PPP/C leader Bharrat Jagdeo was re-elected as President. He was sworn in on 9 September. [4] The National Assembly met for the first time on 28 September, with Ralph Ramkarran re-elected as Speaker. [4]

References

  1. Guyana General Election Results 2006 Caribbean Elections
  2. 1 2 Co-operative Republic of Guyana: Legislative Elections of 28 August 2006 Psephos
  3. Guyana New and Information - Election 2006 Guyana.org
  4. 1 2 3 4 Elections in 2006 IPU
  5. 1 2 Markey, Patrick (2006-08-29). "Guyana's Jagdeo set to win poll". The Irish Times. p. 7.