Guyana heads to polls as Granger govt falls

Guyana citizens will head to the polls in a general election within the next three months after Friday's controversial vote in which an MP in the Moses Nagamootoo-led regime sided with the Opposition People’s Progress Party (PPP) in a no-confidence motion against the government.

A mixture of shock and bedlam reverberated throughout the walls of the 65-seat National Assembly seconds after Alliance For Change (AFC) MP Charandass Persaud defected to the Opposition, led by former president Bharrat Jagdeo, despite efforts from his colleagues to reconsider his vote in favour of the government.

The development has effectively placed the South-American country on an election footing but has also cast doubt on the political future of head of state David Granger, who is currently battling cancer.