Legislative Assembly (British Guiana)

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The Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Legislature in British Guiana between 1961 and 1964.

A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.

Legislature (British Guiana)

The Legislature was the parliament of British Guiana between 1961 and 1964. A bicameral body, it consisted of an appointed Senate and an elected Legislative Assembly.

British Guiana British posession in the Guianas region between 1814–1966

British Guiana was the name of the British colony, part of the British West Indies (Caribbean), on the northern coast of South America, now known as the independent nation of Guyana.

Contents

History

A new constitution was promulgated on 18 July 1961, replacing the unicameral Legislative Council with the Legislature. The new body consisted of a 13-member Senate and a 36-member Legislative Assembly. [1] Whilst the 13 members of the Senate were nominated, the Legislative Assembly was elected, and consisted of 35 members elected in single-member constituencies, and a Speaker elected by the elected MPs. [1]

In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a unicameral parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house.

Legislative Council (British Guiana)

The Legislative Council was the legislature of British Guiana between 1928 and 1953 and again from 1954 until 1961.

Elections to the new Legislature were held on 21 August 1961. The People's Progressive Party (PPP) won 20 seats, the People's National Congress (PNC) won 11 and the United Force four. Both houses convened for the first time on 5 October 1961, when members elected Rahman Baccus Gajraj as Speaker. [1]

Peoples Progressive Party (Guyana) political party in Guyana

The People's Progressive Party (PPP) is a left-wing political party in Guyana. The party currently holds 32 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly, and has been the ruling party on several occasions, most recently between 1992 and 2015. In Guyana's ethnically divided political landscape, the PPP regards itself as a multi-ethnic organisation, but is supported primarily by Indo-Guyanese people.

Peoples National Congress (Guyana) political party

The People's National Congress - Reform is a democratic socialist political party in Guyana led by David A. Granger. The party currently holds 22 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly. In Guyana's ethnically divided political landscape, the PNCR is supported primarily by Afro-Guyanese people.

Although the PPP had only received 1.6% more of the vote than the PNC, it won almost double the number of seats. This resulted in mass demonstrations led by the PNC, a general strike and severe inter-racial violence. A few weeks after the elections the British authorities intervened by sending in troops and the Governor declared a state of emergency. [2]

United Kingdom Country in Europe

The United Kingdom (UK), officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and sometimes referred to as Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.

Further constitutional amendments in 1964 scrapped the Legislature, replacing it with a unicameral House of Assembly elected by proportional representation. The Legislature was dissolved on 25 September 1964. [1]

House of Assembly (British Guiana)

The House of Assembly was the legislature of British Guiana in the 1950s and 1960s.

Proportional representation (PR) characterizes electoral systems in which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. If n% of the electorate support a particular political party, then roughly n% of seats will be won by that party. The essence of such systems is that all votes contribute to the result - not just a plurality, or a bare majority. The most prevalent forms of proportional representation all require the use of multiple-member voting districts, as it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. In fact, the implementations of PR that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to include districts with large numbers of seats.

List of members

People's Progressive PartyPeople's National CongressThe United Force
Cheddi Jagan Forbes Burnham Peter d'Aguiar
Brindley Benn Rudy Kendall Stephen Campbell
Ram Karran John Carter Randolph Emanuel Cheeks
Balram Singh Rai Eugene Francis Correia Teddy Melville
Ranji Chandisingh Neville James Bissember
Charles Ramkissoon Jacob William Alexander Blair
Fenton Harcourt Wilworth Ramsahoye Rudolph Stanislaus Stanley Hugh
Earl Maxwell Gladstone Wilson John Gabriel Joaquin
George Bowman Robert James Jordan
Lawrence Everil McRansford Mann Claude Alfonso Merriman
Sheik Mohamed Saffee Henry Milton Shakespeare Wharton
George Lakey Robertson
Moses Bhagwan
John Bernard Caldeira
Victor Downer
Abdul Maccie Hamid
George McLinton Henry
Derek Chunilall Jagan
Goberdhan Harry Lall
Mohamed Shakoor

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2006 Parliament of Guyana
  2. ↑ Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p355 ISBN   978-0-19-928357-6
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