2020 Guyanese general election
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General elections were held in Guyana on 2 March 2020.[1] Early elections were planned after the government of David A. Granger lost a vote of no confidence by a margin of 33–32 on 21 December 2018,[2] 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.[2] Despite the parliamentary term expiring on 18 September 2019 and protests by the opposition, Granger announced on 25 September that the elections would be held on 2 March 2020.[1]
Background[edit]
Following the no-confidence motion, Attorney General Basil Williams filed a court case arguing that the no-confidence motion was invalid as an absolute majority of the 65 members of Parliament would constitute 34 votes rather than the 33 which the motion received.[3] He also argued that Charrandas Persaud, whose vote decided the motion in the opposition's favour, was ineligible to be an MP as he holds dual Guyanese-Canadian citizenship, which is not permitted under the constitution. On 31 January 2019, Acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire ruled that although Persaud was ineligible to sit in Parliament, the motion was nonetheless validly passed according to Article 165 of the Constitution, and the government of President Granger should have resigned in its aftermath to allow for early elections.[4] The Attorney General rejected the Acting Chief Justice's ruling and stated that he would appeal against it at the Court of Appeal.[5]
In February 2019, officials from the Guyana Elections Commission stated that there was not enough time left to organise elections by the constitutional deadline of mid-March. It was reported that the opposition might agree to postpone them until a later date.[6][7]
On 22 March 2019, the Court of Appeal overturned the Acting Chief Justice's ruling,[8] prompting the opposition People's Progressive Party (PPP/C) to appeal to the Caribbean Court of Justice, whose ruling on the matter would be final. On 18 June, the CCJ ruled that the no confidence vote had been validly passed by a majority of MPs, constitutionally necessitating fresh elections. Its ruling also stated that although Persaud may have been ineligible to be an MP due to his dual citizenship, his vote could not be nullified as the irregularity had not been taken up with the proper bodies within the designated timeframe following the 2015 elections.[9][10]
Electoral system[edit]
The 65 elected members of the National Assembly were elected using closed list proportional representation from a single nationwide 40-seat constituency and 10 sub-national constituencies with a total of 25 seats. Seats are allocated using the Hare quota.[11]
The leader of the single party or coalition which emerges with the largest number of seats in the election will become the President of Guyana.[12]
Campaign[edit]
On 19 January 2019, the PPP/C chose former Housing minister Irfaan Ali as its presidential candidate.[13]
On 16 June, the AFC chose Khemraj Ramjattan as its candidate for Prime Minister should the APNU-AFC coalition be returned to power with Granger as president.[14]
Preliminary results[edit]
By 5 March, nine of the ten regions had declared their results, with the PPP leading by around 51,000 votes.[15] Following problems with the results spreadsheet and a data entry clerk being in possession of a suspect laptop and flash drive,[16][17] the PPP obtained a court injunction preventing the Region 4 returning officer from declaring the results until further verification had taken place.[18]
Despite heavy criticism from party and international observers for the lack transparency,[19][20] results were released to the media by GECOM showing that the APNU–AFC coalition had won by 59,077 votes, a result that would give them a one-seat majority in the National Assembly.[21] The results released by GECOM have come under further scrutiny due to the results of Region 4 bearing the signature of Volda Lawrence, the Minister of Health in the APNU–AFC government, instead of just the stamp and signature of the Returning Officer of that region.[22] A joint statement from the American, British and Canadian governments and the European Union questioned the credibility of the Region 4 results.[23]
On 12 March, the Supreme Court ruled that a partial recount in the election must take place, ordering that Region Four continue verifying votes. According to the BBC, "Judge Roxane George also ruled the electoral body should not declare a winner before the recount is finished."[24] In addition, according to Stabroek News, "an independent high-level Caribbean Community team is [set] to supervise a full recount of the ballots cast in all ten regions at Guyana’s elections based on an agreement by President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo."[25]
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APNU-AFC | 237,329 | 49.85 | |||
| People's Progressive Party | 229,579 | 48.23 | |||
| Liberty and Justice Party | 2,663 | 0.56 | |||
| A New and United Guyana | 2,288 | 0.48 | New | ||
| Change Guyana | 2,024 | 0.43 | New | ||
| People's Republic Party | 858 | 0.18 | New | ||
| The Citizenship Initiative | 679 | 0.14 | New | ||
| United Republican Party | 394 | 0.08 | |||
| The New Movement | 230 | 0.05 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 4,017 | – | – | – | |
| Total | 480,061 | 100 | 65 | 0 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 661,378 | 72.58 | – | – | |
| Source: GECOM | |||||
References[edit]
- ^ a b Guyana goes to the polls March 2, 2020 Jamaica Observer, 26 September 2019
- ^ a b Elections in Guyana within 90 days as Granger gov't loses vote of no confidence 33-32 Caribbean Chronicle, 22 December 2018
- ^ Attorney General appeals Chief Justice ruling on no-confidence motion; private sector demands elections now Demerara Waves, 5 February 2019
- ^ Charrandass Persaud vote valid – Chief Justice Stabroek News, 31 January 2019
- ^ Guyana govt. appeals ruling in no-confidence motion case The Daily Herald, 7 February 2019
- ^ Guyana: Chief elections officer says polls cannot be held on March 19 St. Lucia News Online, 7 February 2019
- ^ Guyana: Opposition leader hints at possible extension of deadline for general elections St. Lucia News Online, 7 February 2019
- ^ Court of Appeal rules no-confidence motion was not validly passed with 33 votes Demerara Waves, 22 March 2019
- ^ CCJ rules no-confidence motion properly passed with 33 votes Demerara Waves, 18 June 2019
- ^ Ruling [2019 CCJ 10 (AJ)] CCJ
- ^ Electoral system IPU
- ^ Guyana : Constitution and politics The Commonwealth
- ^ Irfaan Ali is PPP/C presidential candidate Stabroek News
- ^ AFC picks Ramjattan to be leader, PM candidate Stabroek News
- ^ PPP/C leads APNU+AFC by 51,439 with Region Four still to be declared Stabroek News, 5 March 2020
- ^ Controversy erupts over spreadsheet at GECOM’s Region Four office Stabroek News, 5 March 2020
- ^ Police called in at Region Four Returning Officer’s office to probe suspect flash drive Stabroek News, 5 March 2020
- ^ Injunction secured against declaration of results Stabroek News, 5 March 2020
- ^ Int’l observers pile pressure for return to verification of Region Four votes News Room, 6 March 2020
- ^ Opposition parties say elections have been seized and hijacked News Room, 6 March 2020
- ^ GECOM releases result for Region Four, says APNU+AFC won by 59,077 votes Stabroek News, 5 March 2020
- ^ Form of Region Four vote count has signature of Volda Lawrence News Room, 9 March 2020
- ^ US, UK, Canada, EU say Region Four results not credible Stabroek News, 5 March 2020
- ^ "Guyana election: Top court orders partial recount of votes". BBC. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "CARICOM team to oversee full elections recount". Starbroek News. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
