2006 Guyanese general election

2006 Guyanese general election

28 August 2006
65 seats in the National Assembly 33 seats needed for a majority
Registered	492,369
Turnout	341,426 (69.34%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Bharrat Jagdeo Robert Corbin Raphael Trotman Party PPP PNC AFC Leader since 11 August 1999 5 February 2003 29 October 2005 Seats won 36 / 65 22 / 65 5 / 65 Seat change 2 5 New Popular vote 183,887 114,608 28,366 Percentage 54.67% 34.07% 8.43%
Results by district
President before election Bharrat Jagdeo PPP Elected President Bharrat Jagdeo PPP

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. 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.

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 country's Guyana, with 40 elected from a single nationwide constituency. Seats were allocated using the Hare quota. The leader of the party winning the most seats automatically became President.

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

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. The main campaign topics were crime, drugs and the economy.

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.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats
			Constituency	Top-up	Total	+/–
People's Progressive Party/Civic	183,887	54.67	15	21	36	+2
People's National Congress	114,608	34.07	9	13	22	–5
Alliance for Change	28,366	8.43	1	4	5	New
Guyana Action Party–ROAR	4,249	1.26	0	1	1	–2
The United Force	2,864	0.80	0	1	1	0
Justice for All Party	2,571	0.77	0	0	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	5,051	–	–	–	–	–
Total	341,426	100	25	40	65	0
Registered voters/turnout	492,369	69.34	–	–	–	–
Source: Psephos, IPU, The Official Gazette

Elected members

Alliance for Change	Guyana Action Party–ROAR	People's National Congress	People's Progressive Party	The United Force
Raphael Trotman Kehmraj Ramjattan Sheila Holder David Patterson	Everall Franklin	Anna Ally Deborah Backer Lance Carberry Robert Corbin Volda Lawrence James McAllister Winston Murray George Norton Clarissa Riehl Keith Scott Africo Selmon Friendship Anthony Vieria Basil Williams	Mohamed Ali Frank Anthony Shaik Baksh Brindley Benn Indranie Chandarpal Desrey Fox Henry Jeffrey Kellawan Lall Odinga Lumumba Moses Nagamootoo Mohabir Nandall Harry Nawbatt Haripersaud Nokta Maniram Prashad Donald Ramotar Beri Ramsaran Clement Rohee Philomena Sahoye-Shury Dharamkumar Seeraj Gail Teixeira Jennifer Webster	Manzoor Nadir
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. The National Assembly met for the first time on 28 September, with Ralph Ramkarran re-elected as Speaker.