House of Assembly (British Guiana)

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

## History

[edit]

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

[edit]

### 1953

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

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