General elections were held in British Guiana on 7 December 1964.Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p363 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. Voter turnout was 97.0%.
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.Nohlen, p355 The Speaker was elected from amongst the original elected members.
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.
Results
Elected members MemberPartyNotesCheddi JaganPeople's Progressive PartyBrindley BennPeople's Progressive PartyRam KarranPeople's Progressive PartyRanji ChandisinghPeople's Progressive PartyHenry Jocelyn Makepeace HubbardPeople's Progressive PartyCharles Ramkissoon JacobPeople's Progressive PartyCedric Vernon NunesPeople's Progressive PartyFenton Harcourt Wilworth RamsahoyePeople's Progressive PartyEugene Martin StobyPeople's Progressive PartyEarl Maxwell Gladstone WilsonPeople's Progressive PartyGeorge BowmanPeople's Progressive PartySheik Mohamed SaffeePeople's Progressive PartyAshton ChasePeople's Progressive PartyMoses BhagwanPeople's Progressive PartyJohn Bernard CaldeiraPeople's Progressive PartyAbdul Maccie HamidPeople's Progressive PartyDerek Chunilall JaganPeople's Progressive PartyGoberdhan Harry LallPeople's Progressive PartyYacoob AllyPeople's Progressive PartyLloyd LindePeople's Progressive PartyJoseph Rudolph Spenser LuckPeople's Progressive PartyReepu Daman PersaudPeople's Progressive PartyMohendernauth PoonaiPeople's Progressive PartySubhan Ali RamjohnPeople's Progressive PartyForbes BurnhamPeople's National CongressPremier, Minister of Development & PlanningPtolemy ReidPeople's National CongressMinister of Home AffairsNeville James BissemberPeople's National CongressMinister of Health and HousingEugene Francis CorreiaPeople's National CongressMinister of CommunicationsWinifred GaskinPeople's National CongressMinister of Education, Youth, Race Relations & Community DevelopmentC.M. Llewellyn JohnPeople's National CongressMinister of AgricultureRobert James JordanPeople's National CongressMinister of Forests, Lands and MinesRudy KendallPeople's National CongressMinister of Trade and IndustryDeoroop MahrajPeople's National CongressMinister without PortfolioClaude Alfonso MerrimanPeople's National CongressMinister of Labour and Social SecurityDavid Brandis deGrootPeople's National CongressWilliam Alexander BlairPeople's National CongressJagnarine BudhooPeople's National CongressCharles Frederick Chan-A-SuePeople's National CongressOscar Eleazar ClarkePeople's National CongressRoyden George Basil Field-RidleyPeople's National CongressJohn Gabriel JoaquinPeople's National CongressThomas Anson SanchoPeople's National CongressRupert TelloThe United ForceJames Henry ThomasPeople's National CongressAlex Benjamin TrotmanPeople's National CongressHenry Milton Shakespeare WhartonPeople's National CongressAubrey Percival AlleynePeople's National CongressElected speaker and replaced by Philip DuncanPeter d'AguiarThe United ForceMinister of FinanceMohamed KasimThe United ForceMinister of Works and HydraulicsRandolph Emanuel CheeksThe United ForceMinister of Local GovernmentStephen CampbellThe United ForceMinistry of Home AffairsCyril Victor Too ChungThe United ForceHari PrashadThe United Force
Aftermath Despite the PPP winning a plurality of seats and votes, the PNC and UF collectively had more seats. 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. 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. 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. Jagan would eventually be re-elected to power 28 years later when he was elected as President of Guyana.
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