INTERNAL POLICY OF GUYANA
DESCRIPTION
POLITICAL PARTIES
Actually there are 32 political parties in Guyana, of which 11 presented their lists to participate in the previous elections and those were: The “People’s Progressive Party (PPP/C); “Alliance for Change” (AFC); “The United Force” (TUF); “Justice for All Party” (JFAP); “The National Democratic Front” (NDF); “The United Muslim Party (UNP), “Guyana National Congress” (GNC); “The Guyana National Party/Rise Organize and Rebuild Guyana (GAP/ROAR); “One Guyana People National Congress Reform” (OG/PNCR); “The Liberal Democrats (LD), and “People’s Republic Party” (PRP).
The most important parties that have held power at various opportunities are the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC) and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP).
EMPLOYEES ORGANIZATIONS
Labor Unions
Traditionally, the labor unions have played a very important role in the political life of Guyana, which began to emerge when Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow mobilized the waterfront workers and in 1917 formed the nation’s first labor union denominated "The British Guiana Labor Union (BGLU)". Ever since, the members of this Union have become a significant segment of the Guyanese working society. From these unions originated, evolved and gained strength the PPP and PNC political parties.
Civil Society Organizations
The most outstanding Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) are: Amerindian People's Association (APA); Guyana Citizens Initiative (GCI); Guyana Bar Association (GBA); Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA); Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU); Private Sector Commission (PSC); Trades Union Congress (TUC) and The African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA).
The GHRA is the most active NGO in Guyana in the issue of human rights, which operates without the Government’s interference. This organization was created in 1979 and counts with the participation of Labor Unions, professional organizations and various ethnic groups.
There are other fairly active associations such as the Women in Black, directed to create conscience in the minds of drivers; Help and Shelter, which is dedicated to the protection of ill-treated women; Guyana Relief Council, under the auspices of Yvonne Hinds, wife of Prime Minister Hinds, which provides help and shelter to victims of disasters, particularly those that lost their homes by fire or by other natural causes.
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
The Constitution of 1980 guarantees the freedom of expression in Guyana. The Government directs the newspaper "Guyana Chronicle" as well as manipulates the other newspapers, through the control that it exerts over the import of paper for printing news.
The Stabroek News, which was established in 1991, is today the greatest circulating newspaper. It is the printed media that mainly criticizes the Government, also it is considered the most reliable and independent source in Guyana, although their international news are obtained mainly, like all other media, from the Reuters news agency and occasionally from the BBC and agencies or newspapers of the English Caribbean region.
Furthermore, the other circulating newspapers are the "Guyana Chronicle", of pro-governmental tendency and the "Kaiteur News", of goring approach with moderate anti-governmental tendency, which with the few years of being founded is acquiring a significant number of Guyanese readers. "The New Nation" (PNC) and the "Mirror" (PPP) weekly news, follow the lines dictated by their respective parties and the newspaper “Catholic Standard” published by the Catholic Church.
The Government maintains a monopoly over electronic media, inherited in 1992 from the previous management. For a long time a new legislation on the subject had been promised in order to regulate the granting and renovation of licenses and to monitor the standards of transmission.
The Government has at its disposal a communication and information agency denominated "Government Information Agency" (GINA), that executes, among others, the functions of developing and coordinating the governmental strategies of communication and information, as well as produces and discloses the information to social means of communication on governmental policies, programs and projects.
ELECTORAL INFORMATION
In the previous presidential elections that took place on the 28 of August 2006, the PPP party won 183,867 valid votes out of 338,839 votes, which represented a 54.6% of the total suffrages, winning two additional seats in Parliament, if considering the 2001 elections, but in spite of this, the performance of this party was not that good, given that the greater votes received by the PPP was due to the fact that the PNC had lost the strength of its people.
Another element to take into consideration is the high level of abstention, adding up to a 69% which includes more than 10,000 people that did not vote. It is speculated that the majority were PNC supporters, who did not vote because of their dissatisfaction with the performance of this party. 8.1% of the people voted for the Alliance For Change (AFC), a political party that originated from a division of the PNC. The GAP/ROAR alliance and the TUF party obtained sufficient votes to give them a seat in Parliament.
During election periods in Guyana, the relations between the two ethnic groups tend to strain given the country’s current ethnically polarized political system, but in spite of this, for the first time in more than a decade the 2006 elections was a peaceful one.
Below are the results obtained in the previous general elections of Guyana:
|
Political Parties
|
Total Votes (General)
|
Percentage
|
Total Votes (Regional)
|
Percentage
|
|
PPP
|
183.867
|
54,6
|
182.156
|
54
|
|
PNCR - 1G
|
114.608
|
34
|
114.283
|
34
|
|
AFC
|
28.366
|
8,4
|
27.397
|
8,1
|
|
GAP/ROAR
|
4.249
|
1,2
|
4.588
|
1,3
|
|
JFAP
|
2.571
|
0,76
|
3.436
|
1
|
|
TUF
|
2.694
|
0,8
|
2.903
|
0,87
|
In regards to the actual composition of the National Assembly, below are the results obtained:
|
PPP
|
36 seats
|
|
PNCR - 1G
|
22 seats
|
|
AFC
|
5 seats
|
|
GAP/ROAR
|
1 seat
|
|
TUF
|
1 seat
|
As far as municipal elections is concerned, it is understood that this will be held on the second semester of 2008 (there is no set date), among which there is the preparation for the “house to house verification” of the Electoral List, which will take place between January and July 2008; this being a demand made by the opposition as the condition for the realization of the 2006 elections, which at that time could not be accomplished, however, the Government agreed to do this before the municipal elections, for which the Parliament amended the Law on National Registry with the aim of issuing new identification cards.
The “house to house verification” will surely result in a greater credibility for the Guyana Electoral Commission (GECOM), as the Guyanese electoral entity, in parallel, said Registration and its regular updates will prevent the possibility of complaints from the opposition, which will be advisable in the shaping of a better ruled government for the future of Guyana and its institutions.
The following elections will be held in 2011 and it has been speculated that President Bharrat Jagdeo might be interested in a third term in office. On the other hand, there are other potential candidates in the PPP such as the General Secretary, Donald Ramotar, who publicly declared his interest in presenting himself as a candidate.
Corbin’s figure as the leader of the PNC is very discredited and perhaps what this party needs is a reformation that will allow to revert the failure experienced in the previous elections, although it seems that after the death of Desmond Hoyte, it has been difficult to find someone of his political standing and leadership to take the reins of the second most important political party of Guyana.
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