Guyana, one of the smallest countries in South America, is located on the northern coast of that continent.  It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the north, Suriname on the east, Brazil on the south and Venezuela on the west.  Having been a British colony for many years, the official language is English; the only one on the South American continent.

After gaining independence from Great Britain in 1966, it became a republic in 1970 and had its full name, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, restored when a new constitution was ratified in 1980.  The name is an Amerindian word meaning Land of Many Waters.  Georgetown is the capital situated on the right bank of the Demerara River.

The chief executive of Guyana is a president elected to a five-year term.  The unicameral National Assembly consists of 12 nonelected members and 53 members elected to five-year terms. Different administrative divisions lie in ten local regions.  The legal system is based on English common law with some mixtures of Roman-Dutch law added. Universal suffrage is attained at age 18.

The national government of Guyana consists of the three major branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial.

Executive branch:

The chief of state is the president elected by popular vote as leader of a party list.  Elections must be held every five years and there are no term limits.  The president appoints the prime minister who is the head of government.

The current president is Bharrat Jagdeo who assumed the presidency after the resignation of President Janet Jagan.  He was reelected in 2001 and in 2006.  The next elections are scheduled for August 2011.  The president appoints a Cabinet of Ministers who are responsible to the legislature.

Legislative branch:

Guyana’s legislature consists of 65 seats in a unicameral National Assembly. 53 members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms. There are also four non-elected non-voting ministers and two non-elected non-voting parliamentary secretaries appointed by the president.

Judicial branch:

The judicial branch of the Guyanese government consists of a Supreme Court of Judicature which contains the High Court and the Court of Appeal.  Part of the system allows for a final appeal to the Caribbean Court of Justice.

 Politics

 An Indian-Guyanese, Cheddi Jagan and an Afro-Guyanese, Forbes Burnham, formed the first political party for the colony in 1950.  The aim of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) was to gain independence.  In 1955 the two leaders split and Burnham created the People’s National Congress (PNC).  These two dominated the political scene for many years and the ethnic-cultural divide has led to turbulent politics.

 Until recent years, Afro-Guyanese occupied most of the important government posts since independence was achieved. Following the 2001 elections, opposition supporters of the ruling PPP party set fire to portions of Georgetown suggesting that the elections were fraudulent.  It will be interesting to see what the outcome of the next election in 2011 will be.