House of Assembly (British Guiana)

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

History

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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

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1953

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Post Member
Appointed
Speaker Eustace Gordon Woolford
Chief Secretary John Gutch
Attorney General Frank Wilfred Holder
Financial Secretary Walter Ogle Fraser
Elected
Constituency Member Party Notes
1 – North West William Alfred Phang Independent
2 – Pomeroon Thomas Sherwood Wheating Independent
3 – Western Essequibo Janet Jagan People's Progressive Party Deputy Speaker
4 – Essequibo Islands Theophilus Lee Independent
5 – Bartica and Interior Eugene Francis Correia National Democratic Party
6 – Demerara-Essequibo Fred Bowman People's Progressive Party
7 – West Bank Demerara Jai Narine Singh People's Progressive Party Minister of Local Government and Social Welfare
8 – East Bank Demerara Joseph Prayag Lachhmansingh People's Progressive Party Minister of Health and Housing
9 – Upper Demerara River Charles Albert Carter Independent
10 – Georgetown South Ashton Chase People's Progressive Party Minister of Labour, Industry and Commerce
11 – Georgetown South Central Clinton Reginald Wong People's Progressive Party
12 – Georgetown Central Jessie Irma Sampson Burnham People's Progressive Party
13 – Georgetown North Frank Obermuller van Sertima People's Progressive Party
14 – Georgetown North-East Forbes Burnham People's Progressive Party Minister of Education
15 – West Central Demerara Ram Karran People's Progressive Party
16 – Central Demerara Sydney Evanson King People's Progressive Party Minister of Communications and Works
17 – East Central Demerara Jane Phillips-Gay People's Progressive Party
18 – Mahaica-Mahaicony Chandra Sama Persaud People's Progressive Party
19 – Western Berbice Samuel Mahabali Latchmansingh People's Progressive Party
20 – New Amsterdam Rudy Kendall National Democratic Party
21 – Berbice River Ajodha Singh People's Progressive Party
22 – Eastern Berbice Robert Stanley Hanoman Singh People's Progressive Party
23 – Corentyne Coast Cheddi Jagan People's Progressive Party Leader of the House and Minister of Agriculture, Forests, Lands and Mines
24 – Corentyne River Mohamed Khan People's Progressive Party

1964–1966

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Member Party Notes Member Party Notes
Government Other
Forbes Burnham People's National Congress Premier, Minister of Development & Planning Aubrey Percival Alleyne Speaker
Ptolemy Reid People's National Congress Minister of Home Affairs Cheddi Jagan People's Progressive Party
Neville James Bissember People's National Congress Minister of Health and Housing Brindley Benn People's Progressive Party
Randolph Emanuel Cheeks The United Force Minister of Local Government Ram Karran People's Progressive Party
Eugene Francis Correia People's National Congress Minister of Communications Ranji Chandisingh People's Progressive Party
Peter d'Aguiar The United Force Minister of Finance Jocelyn Hubbard People's Progressive Party
Winifred Gaskin People's National Congress Minister of Education, Youth, Race Relations & Community Development Charles Ramkissoon Jacob People's Progressive Party
C.M. Llewellyn John People's National Congress Minister of Agriculture Cedric Vernon Nunes People's Progressive Party
Robert James Jordan People's National Congress Minister of Forests, Lands and Mines Fenton Harcourt Wilworth Ramsahoye People's Progressive Party
Mohamed Kasim The United Force Minister of Works and Hydraulics Eugene Martin Stoby People's Progressive Party
Rudy Kendall People's National Congress Minister of Trade and Industry Earl Maxwell Gladstone Wilson People's Progressive Party
Deoroop Mahraj People's National Congress Minister without Portfolio George Bowman People's Progressive Party
Claude Alfonso Merriman People's National Congress Minister of Labour and Social Security Sheik Mohamed Saffee People's Progressive Party
Stephen Campbell The United Force Ministry of Home Affairs Ashton Chase People's Progressive Party
David Brandis deGroot People's National Congress Moses Bhagwan People's Progressive Party
William Alexander Blair People's National Congress John Bernard Caldeira People's Progressive Party
Jagnarine Budhoo People's National Congress Abdul Maccie Hamid People's Progressive Party
Charles Frederick Chan-A-Sue People's National Congress Derek Chunilall Jagan People's Progressive Party
Oscar Eleazar Clarke People's National Congress Goberdhan Harry Lall People's Progressive Party
Royden George Basil Field-Ridley People's National Congress Yacoob Ally People's Progressive Party
John Gabriel Joaquin People's National Congress Lloyd Linde People's Progressive Party
Hari Prashad The United Force Joseph Rudolph Spenser Luck People's Progressive Party
Thomas Anson Sancho People's National Congress Reepu Daman Persaud People's Progressive Party
Rupert Tello The United Force Mohendernauth Poonai People's Progressive Party
James Henry Thomas People's National Congress Subhan Ali Ramjohn People's Progressive Party
Cyril Victor Too Chung The United Force
Alex Benjamin Trotman People's National Congress
Henry Milton Shakespeare Wharton People's National Congress
Philip Duncan People's National Congress Replacement for the Speaker

References

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  1. ^ a b c d 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