Guyana elections: David Granger and his coalition headed for victory

An opposition coalition challenging the governing party and the racial politics that have long dominated in Guyana said Tuesday it appeared to have won national elections, though official results had not been released.

David Granger – the leader of the Partnership for National Unity Alliance for Change told reporters the coalition’s own tabulation of publicly available results from nearly all polling stations gave it a substantial lead over the governing People’s Progressive Party.

According to Granger, opposition candidates for Parliament had more than 180,000 votes, compared to nearly 130,000 for the ruling party.

“There is no way that the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) can close this gap that we have opened up,” Granger said.

However, the incumbent president Donald Ramotar and his PPPC said the race was too early to call. The Guyana Elections Commission was still tabulating ballots from remote parts of the country and was not expected to announce the first official results until Wednesday.

The governing party, the opposition coalition and a handful of small parties were vying for 65 Parliament seats.

Granger’s multi-ethnic coalition challenged a tradition of politics that has broken down along racial lines in the country.

The People’s Progressive Party Civic, which has been in power since 1992, has traditionally appealed to people of Indian descent while people of African descent have formed the core of support for the opposition.

But the opposition coalition seemed to be drawing support across racial lines following a bitter political period that culminated with Ramotar dissolving Parliament in February.

Source: Associated Press