Administrative change

Suspension of the British Guiana constitution, 1953

After Cheddi Jagan's People's Progressive Party won 18 of 24 seats in the 1953 election, Britain suspended the constitution and removed his government in October 1953, sending in troops amid concerns over his party's reform program and communist sympathies.

What happened

In the territory's first election under universal suffrage in 1953, Cheddi Jagan's People's Progressive Party (PPP) won 18 of the 24 seats. Concerned by the PPP's program of socioeconomic reform and by strikes and demonstrations it encouraged, and viewing the party as pro-communist, British authorities suspended the constitution and dismissed Jagan's government in October 1953, sending troops to the territory.[1]

Sources for this page

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  1. 1.

    Claim: In British Guiana's first election under universal suffrage in 1953, Cheddi Jagan's People's Progressive Party won 18 of the 24 seats. Concerned by the PPP's program of socioeconomic reform and by strikes and demonstrations it encouraged, and viewing the party as pro-communist, British authorities suspended the constitution and dismissed Jagan's government in October 1953, sending troops to the territory.

    • Cheddi Jagan (Encyclopaedia Britannica) link, Political career section. Source record

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