1961 British Guiana general election

none British Guiana parliamentary 1957 British Guiana general election 1957 1964 British Guiana general election 1964 35 seats in the Legislative Assembly 18 21 August 1961 246,120 89.44% 130x130px Cheddi_Jagan_Anefo.jpg Cheddi Jagan People's Progressive Party (Guyana) 20 93,085 11 42.63% 4.88pp Forbes_Burnham_(1966).jpg Forbes Burnham People's National Congress (Guyana) 89,501 40.99% 11 7 15.5pp 3x4.svg Peter D'Aguiar The United Force 4 35,771 New 16.38% New Premier Elected Premier Cheddi Jagan PPP Cheddi Jagan PPP General elections were held in British Guiana on 21 August 1961.Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p355 978-0-19-928357-6 The result was a victory for the People's Progressive Party, which won 20 of the 35 seats. Electoral system The elections were the first to be held under the 1961 constitution, which had created a bicameral Legislature with an appointed Senate and an elected Legislative Assembly. The 36 members of the Legislative Assembly included 35 members elected in single-member constituencies and the Speaker, who was elected by the other members.Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20181129100143/http://parliament.gov.gy/GUYANA%20PARLIAMENT%20HISTORY%202009-1.pdf 2018-11-29 Parliament of Guyana The 13 members of the Senate included eight nominated by the ruling party, three by the opposition and two by the Governor. Campaign A total of 98 candidates contested the elections. The PPP ran 29 candidates, the People's National Congress 35 and the United Force 34.1961 Elections GECOM Results People's Progressive Party 93085 20 +11 People's National Congress 89501 11 +7 United Force 35771 4 New 1768 +21 246120 GECOM Following the elections, the People's National Congress (PNC) were allocated two of the Senate seats reserved for the opposition, with one given to the United Force. The PNC claimed they should have been given all three seats, and its members attempted to block Governor Richard Luyt from entering the Legislature for its ceremonial opening on 6 October, requiring the police to remove them.Brewing anti-PPP challenges in 1961 Guyana.org Aftermath Although the PPP had only received 1.6% more of the vote than the new People's National Congress, it had won almost double the number of seats. This resulted in mass demonstrations led by the PNC, a general strike and severe inter-racial violence. After a few weeks the British authorities intervened by sending in troops and the Governor declared a state of emergency. Following these events, the country's electoral system was changed to use proportional representation. The first elections held under the new system took place in 1964. References British Guiana Category:Elections in Guyana Category:20th century in Guyanese politics General election British Guiana British Guiana