1 December 2011 Last updated at 11:13 GMT

Guyana election count's slow speed fuels concern

Officials in Guyana have urged calm as tensions rise at the delay in announcing the result of Monday's general election.

An unofficial tally has the governing People's Progressive Party ahead of a coalition including its long-standing rival, the People's National Congress.

The electoral commission says it needs to double-check the count.

The streets of Guyana's capital were mainly empty amid concern over possible unrest, as happened in previous polls.

The Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) did not make an announcement on Wednesday evening as widely expected.

The commission is now expected to hold a news conference on Thursday morning local time, local media reported.

Political leaders have voiced frustration at the slowness of the count.

International election observers, who noted that voting day itself was largely problem-free, also expressed concern.

"These delays can only undermine confidence in the electoral process and fuel speculation by intervener who may wish to take advantage of the situation," the observer mission from the Organisation of American States (OAS) said.

GECOM head Dr Steve Surujbally appealed for calm, telling party leaders on Wednesday that the vote-count had not been "compromised in any way, shape or form".

Tensions between Guyana's ethnic groups have led to violence in the past - in 2001, post-election unrest continued for weeks.

The PPP/C, which is mainly backed by the Indo-Guyanese community, is bidding for a fifth straight victory.

The main challenger is A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), which groups the People's National Congress (PNC) with several smaller parties and is supported largely by Afro-Guyanese voters.

Nearly half a million people were eligible to vote in the election.

Guyana has a parliamentary system, under which the majority party's candidate assumes the presidency.