Guyana is a parliamentary republic in which the President of Guyana is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President,advised by a cabinet. Legislative power is vested in both the President and the National Assembly of Guyana. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The history of Guyana begins about 35,000 years ago with the arrival of humans coming from Eurasia. These migrants became the Carib and Arawak tribes,who met Alonso de Ojeda's first expedition from Spain in 1499 at the Essequibo River. In the ensuing colonial era,Guyana's government was defined by the successive policies of the French,Dutch,and British settlers. During the colonial period,Guyana's economy was focused on plantation agriculture,which initially depended on slave labor. Guyana saw major slave rebellions in 1763 and 1823. Following the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833,800,000 enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and South Africa were freed,resulting in plantations contracting indentured workers,mainly from India. Eventually,these Indians joined forces with Afro-Guyanese to demand equal rights in government and society. After the Second World War,the British Empire pursued policy decolonization of its overseas territories,with independence granted to British Guiana on May 26,1966. Following independence,Forbes Burnham rose to power,quickly becoming an authoritarian leader,pledging to bring socialism to Guyana. His power began to weaken following international attention brought to Guyana in wake of the Jonestown mass murder suicide in 1978.
Cheddi Berret Jagan was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964. He later served as President of Guyana from 1992 to his death in 1997. In 1953,he became the first Hindu and person of Indian descent to be a head of government outside of the Indian subcontinent.
Bharrat Jagdeo is a Guyanese politician who has been serving as Vice President of Guyana since 2020,in the administration of President Irfaan Ali. He had previously also held the office from 1997 until 1999,during the presidency of Janet Jagan. Jagdeo subsequently served as the President of Guyana from 11 August 1999 to 3 December 2011. He also holds a number of global leadership positions in the areas of sustainable development,green growth and climate change.
Janet Rosenberg Jagan was an American-born Guyanese politician who served as the President of Guyana,serving from December 19,1997,to August 11,1999. She was the first female president of Guyana. She previously served as the first female Prime Minister of Guyana from March 17,1997,to December 19,1997. The wife of Cheddi Jagan,whom she succeeded as president,she was awarded Guyana's highest national award,the Order of Excellence,in 1993,and the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Gold Medal for Women's Rights in 1998.
Hugh Desmond Hoyte was a Guyanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Guyana from 1984 to 1985 and President of Guyana from 1985 until 1992.
Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He served as Premier of British Guiana from 1964 to 1966,Prime Minister of Guyana from 1964 to 1980 and then as the first executive president of Guyana from 1980 to 1985. He is often regarded as a strongman who embraced his own version of socialism.
The People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is a major political party in Guyana. As of 2020,the party holds 33 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly and forms the government. It has been the ruling party in the past as well,most recently between 1992 and 2015. In Guyana's ethnically divided political landscape,the PPP/C is a multi-ethnic organization.
Donald Rabindranauth Ramotar is a Guyanese politician who was President of Guyana from 2011 to 2015. He was also the General Secretary of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) from 1997 to 2013.
David Arthur Granger is a Guyanese former politician and retired military officer who served as the ninth president of Guyana from 2015 to 2020. A member of the People’s National Congress (PNC),he previously served as Commander of the Guyana Defence Force and as National Security Adviser from 1990 to 1992. He was leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Guyana from 2012 to 2015.
Moses Veerasammy Nagamootoo is a Guyanese politician,writer and novelist who served as the Prime Minister of Guyana under former President David A. Granger from May 2015 to August 2020.
Carolyn Allison Rodrigues-Birkett is a Guyanese politician who was appointed Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations in 2020. She previously served as Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization Liaison Office in Geneva from 2017 to 2020 and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana from 2008 to 2015.
Early general elections were held in Guyana on 11 May 2015,alongside regional elections as a result of President Donald Ramotar proroguing the National Assembly. The result was a victory for the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) alliance,which won 33 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly. Following the elections,APNU leader David A. Granger was sworn in as president on 16 May 2015.
Snap general elections were held in Guyana on 2 March 2020. They were called early after the government of President David A. Granger lost a vote of no confidence by a margin of 33–32 on 21 December 2018,the government having held a one-seat majority since the 2015 elections. However,one of its own MPs,Charrandas Persaud of the Alliance for Change (AFC),voted with the opposition. Granger announced on 25 September 2019 that the elections would be held on 2 March 2020.
Mohamed Irfaan Ali is a Guyanese politician serving as the tenth and current president of Guyana since 2020. A member of the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C),he previously served as the minister of Housing and Water from 2009 to 2015. He is the first Muslim to hold office,and is the second Muslim head of state in the Americas after Noor Hassanali of Trinidad and Tobago.
Deolatchmee Ramotar is a retired Guyanese accountant who was the First Lady of Guyana from 2011 to 2015. Her spouse,Donald Ramotar,was the 7th President of Guyana. They were married in 1974. They have three children,Lisaveta,Alvaro,and Alexei.
Isahak Basir CCH was a Guyanese historian who was a member of the National Assembly of Guyana from 1977 to 1991. Basir was nicknamed "Uncle Tabrak" and was of Indian descent.
Charrandas Persaud is a Canadian-Guyanese lawyer and politician,who was Guyana's High Commissioner to India from March 2021 to October 2022. He was a member of the Guyanese National Assembly from 2015 to 2018,representing the Alliance for Change party in the East Berbice-Corentyne region.
Asgar Ally is a former Guyanese politician. He served as Minister of Finance from 1992 to 1995.
