President of Guyana

When Guyana was declared a republic in 1970 the president was elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term and possessed largely ceremonial powers. Arthur Chung was the only person to hold the office under those legal provisions. Namely, after a 1980 referendum the constitution was amended to make the presidency an executive post (i.e. the office holder would be both the country's head of state and its head of government) and the office became known as the executive president. Forbes Burnham was the first person to become president following these changes.

Pursuant to article 91 of the constitution, the president is elected by the people on the basis of the votes cast in the general election. Each list of contesting parties will on Nomination Day designate a member of their list as that party's presidential candidate. The presidential candidate whose party's list of candidates receives the most votes is deemed to be elected president and holds office for the legislature's duration — which is, in practice, five years.

If two or more candidates who have more votes cast for them than any other candidate receive an equal number of votes, then under article 177(3) of the constitution, the president shall be determined by drawing lots in the presence of the Chancellor of the Judiciary and the public.[5] This process of drawing lots to determine the president has never occurred in the history of Guyana since the creation of the presidency.

In order to be qualified to be elected president, a candidate must:

• Be a citizen of Guyana by birth or parentage
• Have resided in Guyana for a period of seven years prior to the date of the election
• Be qualified to be elected a member of the National Assembly, that is to say:
  • Be a citizen of Guyana 18 years and older
  • Be able to speak, and read the English language to an extent which would allow active participation in the proceedings of the National Assembly, unless an incapacity prevents this. In which case this provision will not apply.

Concurrently, under article 155(1) of the constitution, and reinforced by a 2019 ruling of the Supreme Court of Judicature of Guyana, persons holding citizenship of Guyana and any other country (dual citizens) are not allowed to be members of the National Assembly, and consequently would not be eligible to be president.[6]

Before entering into office, the a person who has been elected or re-elected President must take and sign the following oath of office, the wording of which is specified in the First Schedule to the constitution:

"I (name) do hereby solemnly declare that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the People of Guyana that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana without fear or favour, affection or ill-will and that in the execution of the functions of that office I will honour, uphold, and preserve the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana."

The phrase 'so help me God' is not specified in the constitution, but may be added at the end of the oath on the personal descretion of the President.

Whenever the president is out of Guyana or is absent from Guyana by reason of illness the Prime Minister, or - if the Prime Minister is already out of Guyana at the same time - any other Minister designated by the president shall assume the office as Acting President until the President is able to resume office.

The constitution also makes provision for a scenario where a president is too ill to transmit the above instructions. In the event this occurs, the temporary succession would proceed, however the person acting as president is prevented from dissolving the National Assembly without the advice of the Cabinet, and may not revoke Presidential appointments. The person acting as president will cease to do so when the substantive president informs them that he/she is well and able to resume office.

The office of President only becomes vacant in the following circumstances:

• If the holder of the office dies
• If the holder of the office resigns via a letter under his/her hand and addressed to the Speaker of the National Assembly
• If the holder of the office is removed for incapacity (pursuant to article 179 of the constitution)
• If the holder of the office is removed for violating the constitution or gross misconduct (pursuant to article 180 of the constitution)

Where a vacancy in the office exists in the above circumstances, the Prime Minister becomes the new substantive President rather than being an Acting President.

In the event that there is a vacancy in the office of President, article 95(1) of the constitution makes provision for a 'worst case scenario' accounting for multiple levels of vacancy and specifies that the order of succession to the presidency shall be:

• The Prime Minister

(of if there is no Prime Minister)

• Any Minister who is an elected member of the National Assembly as determined by the Cabinet

(or if there is no Prime Minister, and no Cabinet)

• The Chancellor of the Judiciary

Status

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party	Prime Minister
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
Ceremonial President
–		Sir Edward Luckhoo (1912–1998)	23 February 1970	17 March 1970	22 days	None[lower-alpha 1]	Burnham
1		Arthur Chung (1918–2008)	17 March 1970	6 October 1980	10 years, 203 days	Independent	Burnham
Executive President
2		Forbes Burnham (1923–1985)	6 October 1980	6 August 1985†	4 years, 304 days	People's National Congress	Reid Hoyte
3		Desmond Hoyte (1929–2002)	6 August 1985	9 October 1992	7 years, 64 days	People's National Congress	Green
4		Cheddi Jagan (1918–1997)	9 October 1992	6 March 1997†	4 years, 148 days	People's Progressive Party	Hinds
5		Sam Hinds (1943–)	6 March 1997	19 December 1997	288 days	People's Progressive Party	J. Jagan
6		Janet Jagan (1920–2009)	19 December 1997	11 August 1999 (resigned.)	1 year, 235 days	People's Progressive Party	Hinds Jagdeo
7		Bharrat Jagdeo (1964–)	11 August 1999	3 December 2011	12 years, 114 days	People's Progressive Party	Hinds
8		Donald Ramotar (1950–)	3 December 2011	16 May 2015	3 years, 164 days	People's Progressive Party	Hinds
9		David Granger (1945–)	16 May 2015	2 August 2020[lower-alpha 2]	5 years, 78 days	People's National Congress (APNU)	Nagamootoo
10		Irfaan Ali (1980–)	2 August 2020	Incumbent	188 days	People's Progressive Party	Phillips

• List of Commonwealth heads of government
• List of governors of British Guiana
• List of heads of state of Guyana
• Vice President of Guyana
• List of prime ministers of Guyana

• Office of the President