Guyana: David Granger to become new president after his coalition party wins election

Retired army general David Granger is poised to become Guyana’s new president after his multi-ethnic opposition coalition defeated a party that has been in power for nearly 25 years, officials said Thursday.

Vote count results show Granger and his Partnership for National Unity Alliance for Change Coalition got nearly 207,000 votes in Monday’s general elections. The long-governing People’s Progressive Party Civic had almost 201,500 votes, chief elections officer Keith Lowenfield said.

The coalition is expected to have a three- or four-seat majority in the 65-member Parliament of the South American country. It previously held a one-seat majority and often clashed with the current incumbent president, Donald Ramotar, who forced early elections after suspending and dissolving Parliament to avoid a no-confidence vote.

Ramotar’s party has been in power since 1992 and was seeking a sixth consecutive term while facing accusations of corruption and mismanagement. It has long received support mostly from Guyanese of Indian descent.

Officials said the 69-year-old Granger could be sworn in early Friday, becoming Guyana’s eighth government leader since the country gained independence in 1966. He has promised to end racial politics that have long defined Guyana, a country of nearly 746,000 people who are mainly of Indian and African descent.

“The time has come for racial and national unity,” Granger said ahead of the elections. “The time has come to end winner-take-all politics, corruption, nepotism and the squandering of our resources.”

Ramotar had defeated Granger and another coalition in 2011.

Granger retired in the late 1980s as a one-star general and later served as a government security adviser. He is also a well-known historian.

Granger will oversee a country whose economy relies heavily on the export of commodities including gold, sugar, bauxite and rice.

Source: Associated Press