HR. GUIANA POLL IN BALANCE

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30619, 9 December 1964, Page 21

HR. GUIANA POLL IN BALANCE

(N .Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) GEORGETOWN, December 8. The result of British Guiana’s election hung in the balance today with votes counted from 19 of the 35 constituencies.

Both major parties Premier Cheddi Jagan’s People’s Progressive Party (P.P.P.) and Mr Forbes Burnham’s People’s National Congress (P.N.C.)' —appeared to be gaining votes from the United Force. When overnight counting stopped, the P.P.P. had 55,761 votes, the P.N.C. 61,648, the United Force 15,760, and minor parties a total of 1365. The election is by proportional representation. The P.N.C. lead was largely accounted for by votes from the mainly Negro Georgetown area. It is expected to be balanced later

today when votes are counted from the predominantly east Indian rural areas.

Dr. Jagan draws most of his strength from the large East Indian segment of the population. The P.P.P. did not contest the predominantly P.N.C. district of Ruimveldt in 1961 and its showing was considered better than expected. Ruimveldt was the first of 35 districts to announce returns.

Mrs Janet Jagan, wife of the Premier and secretary of the P.P.P., told journalists: “It looks good.” During the voting yesterday for the 53-seat Legislature 2500 regular and auxiliary police, reinforced by 1300 British troops, kept strict order in the 2000-square-mile coastal strip where most of

the colony's 650,000 people live.

There was none of last year’s violence between Negroes and Indians as electors stood in long queues for what may be a record vote. Political observers see a weakening of the U.F.’s future role as a possible ally with the P.N.C. against the ruling P.P.P. In Huston, outside Georgetown, which was vacant after the Opposition legally disputed the P.P.P.’s 1961 win, the P.P.P. was victorious with an increased majority. Under proportional representation seats are not allocated by constituency but by each party's percentage of the total vote.