House of Assembly (British Guiana)

The House of Assembly was the legislature of British Guiana in the 1950s and 1960s.

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History

The House of Assembly was established as a result of the Waddington Commission, which led to the enactment of constitutional reforms in 1952; universal suffrage was introduced and the Legislative Council was to be replaced by the House of Assembly. The new House had 28 members; 24 members elected in single member constituencies, a speaker appointed by the Governor and three ex officio members (the Chief Secretary, the Attorney General and the Financial Secretary).[1] The term of the final Legislative Council was extended in order to allow preparations for elections under the new system on 27 April 1953.[1]

The elections were won by the People's Progressive Party (PPP) led by Cheddi Jagan, who became Prime Minister, whilst Eustace Gordon Woolford was appointed Speaker of the new House. Its first meeting was held on 18 May.[1] After assuming power Jagan embarked on implementing a series of policies that involved radical social reform, mainly directed at the colonial oligarchy. The British colonial authorities sent in troops in response to the alleged threat of a Marxist revolution. Governor Alfred Savage suspended the constitution on 9 October (only 133 days after it had come into force);[2] the House of Assembly was prorogued, before being dissolved on 21 December. A wholly appointed Interim Legislative Council was established in place of the Assembly.

Constitutional reforms in 1964 led to the re-establishment of the House of Assembly as a replacement for the bicameral Legislature, which had been created in 1961. The new House was a 54-seat body, consisting of 53 elected members and the Speaker. The elections were held on 7 December 1964 using proportional representation to allocate the seats, and although the PPP won the most seats, the People's National Congress (PNC) and United Force were able to form a coalition government with a working majority. Despite losing the elections, Jagan refused to resign as Prime Minister, and had to be removed by Governor Richard Luyt, with Forbes Burnham replacing him.[3] The new House met for the first time on 31 December, although the meeting was boycotted by the PPP.[1] Aubrey Percival Alleyne of the PNC was elected Speaker, and subsequently vacated his seat, allowing Philip Duncan of the PNC to take his place.

On 26 May 1966 the country became independent under the name of Guyana. A new constitution came into force, replacing the House of Assembly with the National Assembly.

List of members

1953
Post Member
Appointed
SpeakerEustace Gordon Woolford
Chief SecretaryJohn Gutch
Attorney GeneralFrank Wilfred Holder
Financial SecretaryWalter Ogle Fraser
Elected
ConstituencyMemberPartyNotes
1 – North WestWilliam Alfred PhangIndependent
2 – PomeroonThomas Sherwood WheatingIndependent
3 – Western EssequiboJanet JaganPeople's Progressive PartyDeputy Speaker
4 – Essequibo IslandsTheophilus LeeIndependent
5 – Bartica and InteriorEugene Francis CorreiaNational Democratic Party
6 – Demerara-EssequiboFred BowmanPeople's Progressive Party
7 – West Bank DemeraraJai Narine SinghPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Local Government and Social Welfare
8 – East Bank DemeraraJoseph Prayag LachhmansinghPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Health and Housing
9 – Upper Demerara RiverCharles Albert CarterIndependent
10 – Georgetown SouthAshton ChasePeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Labour, Industry and Commerce
11 – Georgetown South CentralClinton Reginald WongPeople's Progressive Party
12 – Georgetown CentralJessie Irma Sampson BurnhamPeople's Progressive Party
13 – Georgetown NorthFrank Obermuller van SertimaPeople's Progressive Party
14 – Georgetown North-EastForbes BurnhamPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Education
15 – West Central DemeraraRam KarranPeople's Progressive Party
16 – Central DemeraraSydney Evanson KingPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Communications and Works
17 – East Central DemeraraJane Phillips-GayPeople's Progressive Party
18 – Mahaica-MahaiconyChandra Sama PersaudPeople's Progressive Party
19 – Western BerbiceSamuel Mahabali LatchmansinghPeople's Progressive Party
20 – New AmsterdamRudy KendallNational Democratic Party
21 – Berbice RiverAjodha SinghPeople's Progressive Party
22 – Eastern BerbiceRobert Stanley Hanoman SinghPeople's Progressive Party
23 – Corentyne CoastCheddi JaganPeople's Progressive PartyLeader of the House and Minister of Agriculture, Forests, Lands and Mines
24 – Corentyne RiverMohamed KhanPeople's Progressive Party

1964–1966
Member Party Notes Member Party Notes
Government Other
Forbes BurnhamPeople's National CongressPremier, Minister of Development & PlanningAubrey Percival Alleyne–Speaker
Ptolemy ReidPeople's National CongressMinister of Home AffairsCheddi JaganPeople's Progressive Party
Neville James BissemberPeople's National CongressMinister of Health and HousingBrindley BennPeople's Progressive Party
Randolph Emanuel CheeksThe United ForceMinister of Local GovernmentRam KarranPeople's Progressive Party
Eugene Francis CorreiaPeople's National CongressMinister of CommunicationsRanji ChandisinghPeople's Progressive Party
Peter d'AguiarThe United ForceMinister of FinanceJocelyn HubbardPeople's Progressive Party
Winifred GaskinPeople's National CongressMinister of Education, Youth, Race Relations & Community DevelopmentCharles Ramkissoon JacobPeople's Progressive Party
C.M. Llewellyn JohnPeople's National CongressMinister of AgricultureCedric Vernon Nunes People's Progressive Party
Robert James JordanPeople's National CongressMinister of Forests, Lands and MinesFenton Harcourt Wilworth RamsahoyePeople's Progressive Party
Mohamed KasimThe United ForceMinister of Works and HydraulicsEugene Martin StobyPeople's Progressive Party
Rudy KendallPeople's National CongressMinister of Trade and IndustryEarl Maxwell Gladstone WilsonPeople's Progressive Party
Deoroop MahrajPeople's National CongressMinister without PortfolioGeorge BowmanPeople's Progressive Party
Claude Alfonso MerrimanPeople's National CongressMinister of Labour and Social SecuritySheik Mohamed SaffeePeople's Progressive Party
Stephen CampbellThe United ForceMinistry of Home AffairsAshton ChasePeople's Progressive Party
David Brandis deGrootPeople's National CongressMoses BhagwanPeople's Progressive Party
William Alexander BlairPeople's National CongressJohn Bernard CaldeiraPeople's Progressive Party
Jagnarine BudhooPeople's National CongressAbdul Maccie HamidPeople's Progressive Party
Charles Frederick Chan-A-SuePeople's National CongressDerek Chunilall JaganPeople's Progressive Party
Oscar Eleazar ClarkePeople's National CongressGoberdhan Harry LallPeople's Progressive Party
Royden George Basil Field-RidleyPeople's National CongressYacoob AllyPeople's Progressive Party
John Gabriel JoaquinPeople's National CongressLloyd LindePeople's Progressive Party
Hari PrashadThe United ForceJoseph Rudolph Spenser LuckPeople's Progressive Party
Thomas Anson SanchoPeople's National CongressReepu Daman PersaudPeople's Progressive Party
Rupert TelloThe United ForceMohendernauth PoonaiPeople's Progressive Party
James Henry ThomasPeople's National CongressSubhan Ali RamjohnPeople's Progressive Party
Cyril Victor Too ChungThe United Force
Alex Benjamin TrotmanPeople's National Congress
Henry Milton Shakespeare WhartonPeople's National Congress
Philip DuncanPeople's National CongressReplacement for the Speaker

References
  1. Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2006 Parliament of Guyana
  2. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p354 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  3. Nohlen, p363
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