Guyana election: Opposition unites to oust president

The people of Guyana are voting in general elections on Monday.

Incumbent President Donald Ramotar of the People's Progressive Party - Civic (PPP/C) is running against David Granger, representing a five-party opposition coalition.

Mr Ramotar, 64, called the elections more than a year early after he dissolved parliament on 28 February to avoid a no-confidence vote.

His PPP/C party has been in power for more than two decades.

If the PPP/C wins, it will be its sixth consecutive term in office and the second for Donald Ramotar.

Divisions

Guyana is ethnically divided, with people of Indian descent historically backing the PPP/C and those of African descent backing opposition parties.

Mr Granger, a 69-year-old retired army general, ran against Mr Ramotar in the last presidential election in 2011 and lost.

But he sounded a confident note ahead of Monday's election saying that "for the first time in 60 years, we have brought the major ethnic groups together under one umbrella".

There have been no independent opinion polls ahead of the election.

Acrimonious campaign

The campaign has been acrimonious with the opposition accusing Mr Ramotar of corruption and mismanagement.

Opposition members of the 65-seat National Assembly blocked funding for a number of projects backed by President Ramotar over the past years.

After he defied budget cuts, opposition politicians in the National Assembly called a vote of no confidence.

In return, President Ramotar suspended the the National Assembly in November, eventually dissolving it three months later,

Guyana is the third poorest country in Latin America after Haiti and Nicaragua, according to World Bank figures.

Mr Ramotar said that his party's record spoke for itself and pointed to the steady economic growth Guyana had been experiencing in the past eight years.

Mr Granger has campaigned on a platform of increased security and fighting drug and human trafficking.

Polls are open from 11:00 BST to 23:00 BST and results are expected in the following two days.