Guyana governing party's Donald Ramotar wins election

The electoral commission in Guyana says Donald Ramotar of the People's Progressive Party (PPP/C) has won Monday's presidential election. It is the fifth straight win for the party, which is mainly backed by Guyana's ethnic-Indian community. The commission said the People's Progressive Party won 49% of the vote, compared with 41% for the opposition coalition. A delay in the results had caused concern over possible unrest. The Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) said the People's Progressive Party had won 32 seats, the opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) 26 seats, and the Alliance for Change seven seats. Delays and tension Chief elections officer Gogool Boodhoo declared Mr Ramotar, 61, the winner and said he would be sworn in shortly. Mr Ramotar has been the General Secretary of the PPP/C since 1997 and was a political advisor to outgoing President Bharrat Jagdeo. He campaigned under the slogan "Let Progress Continue", promising to continue the focus on social policies and infrastructure development he said had been the hallmark of his predecessor in office. Before announcing the final results, GECOM chairman Steve Surujbally defended the integrity of the electoral commission and the results. The commission had delayed the announcement of the final results, which had been expected on Wednesday, saying it needed to double-check the count. The delay had given rise to concern of a repeat of the unrest which marred previous polls. In 2001, post-election unrest between Guyana's ethnic groups continued for weeks. The PPP/C is mainly backed by the Indo-Guyanese community, while its chief challenger, APNU, is supported largely by Afro-Guyanese voters. Guyana has a parliamentary system, under which the majority party's candidate assumes the presidency. Nearly half a million people were eligible to vote in the election.