1997 Guyanese general election

1997 Guyanese general election

← 1992 15 December 1997 2001 →
53 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly 33 seats needed for a majority
Registered	461,481
Turnout	88.42%
First party Second party   Candidate Janet Jagan Desmond Hoyte Party PPP/C PNC Seats won 34 26 Seat change 2 5 Popular vote 220,667 161,901 Percentage 55.26% 40.55% Swing 1.81pp 1.76pp
Results by district
President before election Sam Hinds PPP/C Elected President Janet Jagan PPP/C

Politics of Guyana
Constitution
Executive President (list) Irfaan Ali Vice President Prime Minister (list) Mark Phillips
Legislature National Assembly Speaker: Manzoor Nadir Leader of the Opposition
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General elections were held in Guyana on 15 December 1997.^[1] The result was a victory for the People's Progressive Party/Civic, which won 29 of the 53 seats. Voter turnout was 88.4%.^[1]

The National Assembly had 65 members; 53 elected by proportional representation in a nationwide constituency, 10 appointed by the Regional Councils elected on the same date as the national members, and 2 appointed by the National Congress of Local Democratic Organs, an umbrella body representing the regional councils.^[2] These were the last elections to feature that electoral system, as the electoral law was amended in February 2001 ahead of the elections in March that year.^[3]

The President was elected by a first-past-the-post double simultaneous vote system, whereby each list nominated a presidential candidate and the presidential election itself was won by the candidate of the list having a plurality.^[2]