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1964 British Guiana general election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
General elections were held in British Guiana on 7 December 1964.[1] They saw the People's Progressive Party (PPP) win 24 of the 53 seats. However, the People's National Congress (PNC) (22 seats) and United Force (UF) (7 seats) were able to form a coalition government with a working majority. Despite losing the elections, Prime Minister and PPP leader Cheddi Jagan refused to resign, and had to be removed by Governor Richard Luyt, with Forbes Burnham replacing him.[2] Voter turnout was 97.0%.[1]
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7 December 1964
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53 seats in the House of Assembly 27 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 247,604 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 96.98% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Electoral system
The elections followed constitutional reforms and the re-establishment of the House of Assembly, which had been abolished in 1953, replacing the bicameral Legislature. The House had 54 members; the Speaker and 53 members elected by proportional representation.[2] The Speaker was elected from amongst the original elected members.[3]
Four days prior to the election, Governor Richard Luyt declared that he would exercise his discretionary powers under the Royal prerogative to appoint the Premier after the election and that it might not be the leader of the party with the most votes. Jagan criticised the announcement, stating that the Governor had entered the political arena in a way that The Queen would never have done.[4]
Results
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's Progressive Party | 109,332 | 45.84 | 24 | +4 | |
| People's National Congress | 96,657 | 40.52 | 22 | +11 | |
| United Force | 29,612 | 12.41 | 7 | +3 | |
| Justice Party | 1,334 | 0.56 | 0 | New | |
| Guiana United Muslim Party | 1,194 | 0.50 | 0 | New | |
| Peace, Equality and Prosperity Party | 224 | 0.09 | 0 | New | |
| National Labour Front | 177 | 0.07 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 238,530 | 100.00 | 53 | +18 | |
| Valid votes | 238,530 | 99.34 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,590 | 0.66 | |||
| Total votes | 240,120 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 247,604 | 96.98 | |||
| Source: Nohlen | |||||
Elected members
Aftermath
Despite the PPP winning a plurality of seats and votes, the PNC and UF collectively had more seats.[5] Despite the two opposition parties declaring their intent to form a coalition, Jagan refused to resign as Premier. Accordingly, Governor Luyt used the Royal prerogative and sacked Jagan as Premier, appointing the PNC's Burnham as the new Premier of British Guiana.[6] This decision led to rioting throughout the colony from the PPP's supporters. A.P. Alleyne was elected as Speaker but the PPP members boycotted the Assembly until 1965.[3] This was the last general election held in the colony as British Guiana was granted independence as Guyana in 1966 with Luyt assuming the role as Governor-General of Guyana representing Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Guyana.[7] Jagan would eventually be re-elected to power 28 years later when he was elected as President of Guyana.[8]