Guyanese vote in general elections

GEORGE TOWN: Polls closed Monday in Guyana's general elections, with the incumbent People's Progressive Party-Civic, which has led the former British colony since 1992, expected to return to power.

Although police said there were no reports of violence or arrests linked to voting across the country of 750,000, the elections commission announced it was probing some minor irregularities.

"It didn't go too badly. We had some stupid, some really nonsensical episodes," Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) chief Steve Surujbally told reporters.

The opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) parties complained of ghost voting stations, unofficial ballot boxes and delible ink.

Gordon Shirley, who heads the observer mission for the Organization of American States, said the polls were peaceful and that at least 50 percent of the 475,000 eligible voters had cast their ballots by 1:00 pm (1800 GMT).

The presidential candidate of the ruling party, which represents the country's Indian majority, is Donald Ramotar. He is expected to succeed outgoing President Bharrat Jagdeo, who is limited to two terms.

Ramotar, 61, hopes to capitalize on his predecessor's strong economic record, which was backed by social policies that gave priority to housing, education, health and infrastructure development, notably power generation.

He promised during his campaign to fight corruption and drug trafficking in Guyana, a transit point for large amounts of cocaine and other illegal drugs, by allowing the US Drug Enforcement Administration to set up a local office.

"I think this election will be bigger because we have been able to demonstrate that we don't discriminate in our government policies and the resources of the country has been distributed to every single region very fairly," said Ramotar.

Since a split in the PPP/C in 1953, the country's political landscape has been divided along race lines.

Ramotar's major rival for the presidency is APNU candidate David Granger. His party, the biggest opposition group, draws its support from the 35 percent of the population who are descendants of African slaves.

Granger, a retired brigadier in the Guyana Defense Forces, said his priority was to reform the socialist-oriented constitution to entrench executive power sharing and give the 10 administrative regions more autonomy and greater funding in managing the country.

"I look forward to establishing a regional administration that could improve the condition of our lives and, at the national level, I look forward to establishing a government which could represent all of the interests of our people," said Granger, 61.

He also pledged to fight drugs and arms trafficking, drawing from his military experience to do so.

Also running are the AFC's Khemraj Ramjattan, and Peter Persaud, leader of the tiny United Force party.

The country's 475,936 registered voters will also elect the National Assembly's 65 deputies under a system of proportional representation.

Results will not be known before Wednesday.

The voting was observed by representatives of the Union of South American Nations, the Organization of American States and the Commonwealth.

Guyana, which gained independence in 1966, is wedged between Venezuela, Brazil and Suriname. It exports bauxite, rice and sugar cane.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011