1973 Guyanese general election

← 1968

17 July 1973

1980 →

53 seats in the National Assembly
27 seats needed for a majority

Registered

431,575

Turnout

81.00%

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Forbes Burnham	Cheddi Jagan	Marcellus Fielden Singh
Party	PNC	PPP	LP–TUF
Seats won	37	14	2
Seat change	7	5	2
Popular vote	243,803	92,374	9,580
Percentage	70.10%	26.56%	2.75%
Swing	14.29pp	9.93pp	4.66pp

Prime Minister before election

Forbes Burnham
PNC

Elected Prime Minister

Forbes Burnham
PNC

Politics of Guyana


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v t e

General elections were held in Guyana on 17 July 1973. The result was a victory for the People's National Congress, which won 37 of the 53 seats. However, the PNC's victory was the result of fraud as the government had direct control of the elections. Voter turnout was 81.0%.

Electoral system

The National Assembly had 53 members, elected by proportional representation in a nationwide constituency.

This was the last election in Guyana where the entire National Assembly was elected by direct popular vote until 2001, as a new constitution adopted in 1980 provided for an expanded Assembly of 65 members: 53 elected under the old system, ten appointed by the regional councils created by the 1980 constitution (to be elected at the same date as the National Assembly), and two by the National Congress of Local Democratic Organs (an umbrella body representing these regional councils, also created by the 1980 constitution).

Results


Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's National Congress	243,803	70.10	37	+7
	People's Progressive Party	92,374	26.56	14	–5
	Liberator Party–United Force	9,580	2.75	2	–2
	People's Democratic Movement	2,053	0.59	0	New
Total		347,810	100.00	53	0

Valid votes		347,810	99.49
Invalid/blank votes		1,780	0.51
Total votes		349,590	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		431,575	81.00
Source: Nohlen

References

^ Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p363 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
Nohlen, p355-359
Guyana 1973 Inter-Parliamentary Union
Rajendra Chandisingh (1982) "Guyana's new Constitution and the elections of 1980: A case of people's power?" Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America, vol. 15, no. 2, pp145–161

v t e Elections and referendums in Guyana
General	1892 1897 1901 1906 1911 1916 1921 1926 1930 1935 1947 1953 1957 1961 1964 1968 1973 1980 1985 1992 1997 2001 2006 2011 2015 2020 2025
Regional	1980 1985 1992 1997 2001 2006 2011 2015 2020
Municipal	1950 1952 1970 1994 2016 2018 2023
Referendums	1978

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