Tension flares up in Guyana amid tight elections

Tension escalated in Guyana as Sunday's presidential and parliamentary elections were tied and ballot counting was slow, local media reports show. In the capital city of Georgetown, the streets were deserted on Wednesday as citizens had fears for clashes between supporters of ruling and opposition parties. After 186,305 of the 476,000 ballots were counted, the ruling People's Progressive Party (PPP) garnered 85,535 votes, almost neck and neck with the opposition Partnership for National Unity (PNU) with 79,020 votes, according to figures of the National Electoral Commission released on Wednesday. To make the situation worse, the PNU has denounced the PPP for rigging. "These elections have been manipulated in favor of the PPP. The legitimate process is now in crisis," PNU candidate David Granger said Wednesday. Although international observers were positive about the vote, they criticized the delay in producing the final results. "The delays can only undermine confidence in the electoral process and cause speculation," said the observer mission of the Organization of American States on Wednesday. As no independent opinion polls were organized before the elections, there is no indication of a definite front runner. Steve Surujbally, chairman of Guyana's Electoral Commission, rejected the fraud accusation and asked voters to wait for the final results. Authorities are still counting votes, and a final tally is expected to come later this week. The South American country has a racial division between African descendants and indigenous Indians. Therefore, elections are based on ethnicity rather than political parties. The PPP largely draws its support from ethnic Indians, while the PNU has its power base among African descendants. Therefore, political elections usually trigger racial tensions and violence. In the 2001 elections, several people were killed as a result of racial confrontation. The PPP, which has been in power for nearly two decades, expects to extend its office for another five years. The PPP has carried out many infrastructure projects, but the opposition has accused the PPP of corruption and asked for a change. Guyana, a former British colony located between Venezuela, Brazil and Surinam on the Atlantic coast, obtained independence in 1966. It has a population of about 750,000.