GEORGETOWN, Guyana—The main Opposition coalition alliance is claiming victory in the general elections.
Incumbent President Donald Ramotar of the People's Progressive Party-Civic (PPP/C) is running against David Granger, the candidate of the opposition alliance, which comprises A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC).
A statement posted this afternoon to an APNU Facebook page stated, "At the present time with 2,025 Statement of Polls counted (or 88%), the APNU+AFC has 182,176 votes, while the PPP/C has 157,947 a variance of 24,229 votes.
"The APNU+AFC Coalition, therefore, after careful examination of the results can be seen to have a commanding lead in the polls. APNU+AFC continues to urge its supporters to remain calm as the official announcement of the results of the elections is awaited."
A tabulation statement issued this afternoon by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) confirmed that the APNU/AFC had a substantial lead in the preliminary results.
No official results have yet been made available by GECOM, however.
Ramotar, 64, called the elections more than a year early after he dissolved parliament on February 28 to avoid a no-confidence vote. His PPP/C party has been in power for more than two decades. If the PPP/C wins, it will be its sixth consecutive term in office and the second for Donald Ramotar.
Granger, a 69-year-old retired army general, ran against Ramotar in 2011 and lost.