Guyanese constitutional referendum, 1978

Guyana
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Legislature National Assembly Speaker: Barton Scotland
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A constitutional referendum was held in Guyana on 10 July 1978. The proposed change to Article 73 of the constitution would abolish the need for referendums to change the entrenched provisions of the constitution (including presidential powers, the dissolution of Parliament and the electoral system) and instead allow them to be changed by a two-thirds majority in parliament (which the ruling People's National Congress had at the time).^[1] It would also result in the postponement of the elections scheduled for later in the year, and instead the parliament elected in 1973 would be declared a Constituent Assembly.^[2]

The bill was passed by parliament on 10 April, with the referendum to be held three months later. The changes were reportedly approved by 97% of voters with a turnout of 70%,^[3] although the figures were subject to fraud by the government.^[4] The opposition claimed that turnout was only between 10% and 14%.^[4]

Following the referendum, the parliamentary term was prolonged and a new socialist constitution was written and promulgated in 1980.^[1]

Results

References

Elections and referendums in Guyana
General elections	1892 1897 1901 1906 1911 1916 1921 1926 1930 1935 1947 1953 1957 1961 1964 1968 1973 1980 1985 1992 1997 2001 2006 2011 2015
Referendums	1978