2011 Guyanese general election

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2011 Guyanese general election
Flag of Guyana.svg
  2006 28 November 2011 2015  

All 65 seats in the National Assembly
33 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Donald Ramotar.png David Arthur Granger (21605566518) (cropped).jpg Khemraj Ramjattan (cropped).jpg
Candidate Donald Ramotar David A. Granger Khemraj Ramjattan
Party PPP/C APNU AFC
Last election54.67%, 36 seats34.07%, 22 seats
(PNCR only)
8.43%, 5 seats
Seats won32267
Seat changeDecrease2.svg4Increase2.svg3Increase2.svg2
Popular vote166,340139,67835,333
Percentage48.60%40.81%10.32%
SwingDecrease2.svg6.07ppIncrease2.svg6.74ppIncrease2.svg1.89pp

President before election

Bharrat Jagdeo
PPP/C

Elected President

Donald Ramotar
PPP/C

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).

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. [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

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

Election day was declared a national holiday and troops patrolled the streets in order to prevent violence as had happened in previous elections.

Results

PartyPresidential
candidate
Votes%Seats
ConstituencyTop-upTotal+/–
People's Progressive Party/Civic Donald Ramotar 166,34048.60131932–4
A Partnership for National Unity David Granger 139,67840.81101626+3
Alliance for Change Khemraj Ramjattan 35,33310.32257+2
The United Force Peter Persaud 8850.26000–1
Total342,236100.002540650
Valid votes342,23698.71
Invalid/blank votes4,4811.29
Total votes346,717100.00
Registered voters/turnout475,49672.92
Source: GECOM, Commonwealth Observer Group

By region

Region APNU PPP/C AFC TUF Hare
quota
Total
votes
Total
seats
Votes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%
Barima-Waini 88717.0613,47266.77178615.120551.062,6005,2002
Pomeroon-Supenaam 3,28718.28012,55569.8322,08611.600510.288,99017,9792
Essequibo Islands-West Demerara 14,02827.58133,42465.7123,3436.570700.1416,95550,8653
Demerara-Mahaica 84,82854.20460,85138.88310,6356.7902010.1322,359156,5157
Mahaica-Berbice 8,90634.83113,55853.0213,07912.040290.1112,78625,5722
East Berbice-Corentyne 10,79819.68032,36058.97211,63421.201830.1518,29254,8753
Cuyuni-Mazaruni 2,84348.9512,37640.9115058.690841.452,9045,8082
Potaro-Siparuni 73928.75074128.83099538.721953.702,5702,5701
Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo 2,00427.5704,13556.89194613.0201832.527,2687,2681
Upper Demerara-Berbice 11,35872.8822,86818.4001,3248.500340.227,79215,5842
National Assembly top up 139,67840.8116166,34048.601935,33310.3258850.265,265342,23665
Source: GECOM Guyana Election Law

Aftermath

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

  1. "Opposition parties warn GECOM about pitfalls of re-opening registration". Demerara Waves . 13 July 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  2. 1 2 Guyana governing party's Donald Ramotar wins election BBC News, 1 December 2011
  3. 1 2 3 4 Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group - GUYANA NATIONAL AND REGIONAL ELECTIONS, 28 November 2011
  4. About APNU Archived 2011-11-28 at the Wayback Machine APNU