Voting begins in Guyana's general elections

Voting begins in Guyana's general elections
A total of 475,936 eligible Guyanese voters began to go to the polls Monday to elect a president and members of the 65-seat National Assembly.

Voting started at 6 a.m. local time (1000 GMT) in the capital of Georgetown and over 2,000 election polls have been set up across the country.

Donald Ramotar from the ruling People's Progressive Party (PPP) and leaders of three other parties are vying for presidency, with Ramotar expected to win.

Incumbent President Bharrat Jagdeo has urged voters to refrain from violence and allow a peaceful voting process.

Guyana's Electoral Commission is the key authority overseeing the elections, which will be contested by four parties including the PPP, the Alliance for Change (AFC), the United Force party (TUF) and the Association for National Unity (APNU).

The most recent opinion polls showed that about 50 percent of eligible voters are expected to vote for the PPP while the APNU comes in second with 30 percent of support.

Formerly known as British Guiana, the country on the northernmost shore of South America was officially established as the Co-operative Republic of Guyana in 1966 when it won independence from 135 years under the British colonial rule.

Editor: An

English.news.cn   2011-11-28 21:32:31 FeedbackPrintRSS
GEORGETOWN, Nov. 28 (Xinhua)