By collecting more than 60% of the votes, the outgoing deputies Davy Rimane and Jean Victor Castor ended up as the big winners of this first round of early legislative elections. They will face Sophie Charles and Boris Chong Sit respectively in the second round, on July 6.
According to the provisional results transmitted by the prefecture, the outgoing deputies Jean-Victor Castor and Davy Rimane both exceeded 60% of the votes, largely winning this first round of early legislative elections which mobilized one in three Guyanese voters.
If the abstention marks a decline compared to 2022, it nevertheless remains the leading party in Guyana by far since 68% of the 108,000 Guyanese registered on the electoral lists did not go to the polls.
In the first constituency, Jean-Victor Castor largely benefited from the “bonus for incumbents” by collecting 62.7% of the votes. However, he failed to qualify in the first round, his score being, in terms of registered voters, below the 25% required.
On July 6, he will therefore face opposition territorial councilor Boris Chong Sit, who collects 16% of the vote. Yvane Goua, who finishes in third place with 10.5% of the vote, will not go to the second round, unlike in 2022. Finally, Olivier Taoumi, from the National Rally and Jean Yves Mirakoff, from the New Forces of Guyana finish with 9.3 and 1.2% of the vote respectively.
As for the second constituency, Davy Rimane, who finished this election with 60.2% of the votes, will engage in a barely tighter duel against Sophie Charles, to whom the voters entrusted 25.4% of the votes. Jean Philippe Dolor, candidate without label, Aldo Neman, of the Apachi collective, and Sébastien Caugant, of Lutte Ouvrière, finished respectively at 8%, 4.3% and 1.9%. Here too, the low participation did not allow Davy Rimane to qualify in the first round.
In detail, the outgoing candidate for the second constituency largely won in the Savanes sector, where he comes from with 68.6% of the votes in Kourou, 80.4% in Macouria and even 85.6% in Sinnamary. Above all, he created a surprise by winning in Saint Laurent with 45.4% of the votes ahead of the city’s mayor, Sophie Charles, who only received 35.3%.
The incumbent candidate also finished first in Saul, Awala Yalimapo, Mana Montsinery-Tonnégrande and Iracoubo. On the Maroni, Sophie Charles still won the communes of Apatou (41.4%) Grand Santi (53.6%) and achieved his best score in Papaichton (72%). Although he did not manage to qualify for the second round, Jean-Philippe Dolor also won some victories on the river, in Maripasoula, his hometown, but also in Papaichton and Apatou where he finished second with 29%, 17% and 30% respectively.
Jean Victor Castor finished first in each of the communes in his constituency, with the exception of Régina where Boris Chong Sit won the round with 17% of the votes and Saint Georges which placed Yvane Goua in first position with 15.7 % voices.
On the island of Cayenne, the candidate supported by the decolonization and social emancipation movement (MDES) achieved massive scores with 70% of the votes in Matoury, his stronghold, and 65% in Cayenne. Two municipalities where he had nevertheless been overtaken by Yvane Goua in the first round of the 2022 legislative elections.
“[Nous sommes] satisfied with the work accomplished and the vote of adhesion acquired. Thank you to those who trusted us. We are certainly ahead, but the work is not finished because we are heading towards the second round. Starting this evening, the campaign resumes. We will have to mobilize more to convince those we have not convinced to explain to them why they must trust us beyond their fear. We are determined that things will change in Guyana.”
Jean Victor Castor in reaction to the results of the first round of the 2024 legislative elections
More surprisingly, Jean Victor Castor beat Rémire Montjoly with 65% of the votes against 20% for Boris Chong Sit. In 2022, the latter had nevertheless surpassed it with almost 18% of the votes. Finally, Jean Victor Castor finished in the lead at Camopi and Roura while he tied with Yvane Goua at Ouanary.
