Guyana heads to polls after govt loses one-vote majority

A Guyana government backbencher who complained about "dictatorship" has triggered elections and an unprecedented political situation in the former British colony.

"We are going back to the polls," Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo said after his coalition, which had a one-vote majority in the National Assembly, lost a no-confidence motion brought by the opposition over rising unemployment and what it called poor economic management.

The coalition between A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) had 33 seats, against 32 for the opposition People's Progressive Party Civic (PPPC).

But when AFC member Charrandas Persaud switched sides to back the opposition's no confidence motion, Nagamootoo said "the outcome has to be accepted," paving the way for general elections within 90 days.

Persaud complained that the government "failed to perform as a truly democratic government should," and said backbenchers had not been consulted.

"It has been a policy of dictatorship," he said in a statement.

The prime minister countered that until Friday he had no reason to believe that Persaud had a problem.

Opposition leader Bharrat Jagdeo said the situation "is unprecedented" but called for calm and consensus between the government and opposition.

His PPPC had ruled the country on the northeastern tip of South America since 1992 until the coalition unseated it in 2015.

Elections were not constitutionally due until 2020.

Guyana, one of South America's poorest countries, shares cultural ties with the English-speaking Caribbean.