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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Guyana
Index
Concerned that the PPP had been coopted by the more
conservative PNC in the early 1970s, a multiethnic group of
politicians and intellectuals formed the Working People's Alliance
(WPA) in 1973. Originally a loose organization, the WPA became a
formal political party in 1979 after three of its leaders were
imprisoned by the Burnham government. Its membership is drawn from
the Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese communities, and the party
advocates moderately leftist policies. The WPA refused to
participate in the 1980 elections, charging that they would be
rigged, but won one seat in the 1985 elections.
A small conservative party, the United Force (UF) was founded
in 1960 by a wealthy Portuguese businessman to represent Guyana's
business community. It also draws support from Guyana's Roman
Catholic Church and the small Portuguese, Chinese, and Amerindian
populations. The party won two seats in both the 1980 and 1985
elections.
After the 1985 elections, five parties--the PPP, the WPA, the
small Democratic Labour Movement, the People's Democratic Movement,
and the National Democratic Front--formed the Patriotic Coalition
for Democracy (PCD). The PCD promised to push for fair elections
and oppose PNC manipulation of the electoral process.
Data as of January 1992
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