SHARECountry Data
Guyana (Cooperative Republic of Guyana) has a Unicameral parliament with legislated quotas for the single/lower house. 25 of 70 (36%) seats in the National Assembly are held by women.
At a glance
Structure of Parliament: Unicameral
Are there legislated quotas...
- For the Single/Lower House? Yes
- For the Sub-National Level? No
Are there voluntary quotas...
- Adopted by political parties? No
Is there additional information?...
- Yes
Last updated: Oct 27, 2021
Single/Lower House
National Assembly
| Total seats | 70 |
| Total Women | 25 |
| % Women | 36% |
| Election Year | 2020 |
| Electoral System | List PR |
| Quota Type | Reserved seats |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Reserved seats | Constitution | |
| Electoral law | According to the Representation of the People Act: ‘The total number of females on each party’s national additional list shall be at least one-third of the total number of persons on that list’ (Section 11B, Art, 5); ‘The total number of females on any party’s list for geographical constituencies, taken together, shall be at least one-third of the total number of persons on those lists taken together for the geographical constituencies in which that party is contesting’ (Section 11B, Art. 6); ‘There shall be no more than twenty per cent of the number of geographical constituencies in which a party is contesting for which the party’s geographical constituency list contain no female’ (Section 11B, Art. 7) |
|
| Legal sanctions for non-compliance | Electoral law | ‘If it appears to the Commission that a list of candidates is defective […] the Chief Election Officer shall, not later than the 30th day before election day, so inform the representative of the list, specifying the defects (Section 14, Art. 1); ‘The representative and deputy representative of a list of candidates, or either of them, may, not later than the 29th day before election day, submit to the Chief Election Officer corrections of any defects in the list’ (Section 15); ‘[…] no list of candidates shall be valid unless it has been approved by the Commission not later than the 28th day before election day’ (Section 17, Art. 1). |
| Rank order/placement rules | Electoral law | |
| Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? | Not applicable | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
| Are there provisions for other financial advantages to encourage gender equality in political parties? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
Additional Information
There are 65 directly elected members in the National Assembly. The other seats includes two non-elected ministers, two non-elected parliamentary secretaries and the Speaker. A maximum of four non-elected ministers and two non-elected Parliamentary Secretaries may sit in the National Assembly. If the Speaker is not an elected member, he or she becomes a member of the National Assembly by virtue of holding the office of Speaker. The National Assembly may thus have up to 72 members. The percentage of women is calculated from the current number of seats occupied in the parliament. The National Assembly has 72 statutory seats. (IPU Parline Guyana).
25 of the 65 seats in the National Assembly are allocated by proportional representation in 10 geographical constituencies, ranging from 1 to 7 seats per constituency. The remaining 40 seats are elected from a national additional list in order to guarantee a very high degree of proportionality.
Sources
LEGAL SOURCES:
- Representation of the People Act
- Guyana Elections Law ACT No.15 of 2000
- Constitution of Guyana (rev. 2012) (English version)
OTHER SOURCES:
- Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean: Guyana
-
Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU Parline Guyana
Additional reading
- McAlmont, C. 2011. The Participation of Guyanese Women in Politics and Parliament during the Administration of the People’s National Congress. History in Action. 2 (1).
- Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean. n.d. Guyana - Political and electoral system. [Last Accessed: 2021-10-27]
- Das, M. 2000. Women’s Autonomy and Politics of Gender in Guyana. Economic and Political Weekly, 35(23), 1944–1948.
- Reyes, Socorro L. 2001. ‘Weighing in on the 50/50 Campaign One Year Later.’ News & Views, July.
- UNIFEM. 2000. Progress of the World's Women 2000. New York: United Nations.