Opposition wins in Guyana, preliminary results show

The main opposition coalition prevailed in this week's general elections in Guyana, according to preliminary figures released here.

The coalition led by A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance for Change polled 206,817 votes, compared with 201,457 for the incumbent People's Progressive Party-Civic (PPP-C), which was seeking to extend its 22-year hold on power in the South American nation, Efe news agency reported on Thursday.

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) had originally planned to start disclosing results within hours of the polls' closing on Monday.

Citing logistical problems, GECOM repeatedly postponed the release of returns.

"I do understand the nation's anxiety and impatience," GECOM Chairman Steven Surujbally said on Thursday, praising the "professionalism" of his staff.

GECOM had been under severe pressure to release the preliminary results, notably from former US president Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center sent observers to monitor the poll.

Ballots were cast by 408,274, or 71.6 percent, of Guyana's 570,000 registered voters, GECOM said.

"The voters have spoken," Carter said in a statement on Wednesday night, while the opposition leader, retired Brig. Gen. David Granger, said the business community was suffering as a result of the impasse, though he urged his supporters to remain calm.

The ruling party has asked GECOM to conduct a nationwide recount.

"While it was declared that voting was generally free and fair, as the counting phase began some of our agents were intimidated and fled for their own safety," Sports and Culture Minister Frank Anthony told a press conference.

The US Embassy here dismissed on Thursday the ruling party's concerns about election irregularities, saying that it remained "confident in the GECOM's ability to deliver credible results that accurately reflect the way votes were cast by the Guyanese people on May 11".

"Based on our observations of the polling, counting, and tabulation process and the conclusions reached by other international observer missions, we continue to assess that the election process was free and fair," the US Embassy said.

Ethnic Indians comprise 43.5 percent of Guyana's population of over 750,000. Most of them are descendants of Indians who had migrated from India is the 19th and early 20th centuries to work as indentured labour in sugarcane fields.