Widow of former Guyanese president accepts nomination
11.32 p.m. EDT (332 GMT) September 1, 1997

By Bert Wilkinson, Associated Press

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — The widow of Guyanese President Cheddi Jagan has accepted her party's nomination to run for his former post, a top official said Monday. If elected, Janet Jagan would be the country's first female head of state.

A Jewish-American nurse from Chicago, Jagan also would become Guyana's — and the Caribbean's — first foreign-born elected leader.

Jagan, 76, accepted the nomination of the governing People's Progressive Party during a Sunday party meeting, Information Minister Moses Nagamootoo told The Associated Press.

She has served as prime minister, the country's highest post, since her husband died of a heart attack in March. His deputy, Sam Hinds, succeeded him as president pending elections, expected by the end of November.

Hinds, a technocrat who Cheddi Jagan plucked from obscurity as his running mate in 1992, will become Janet Jagan's running mate, Nagamootoo said.

An official announcement will be made next Sunday at a pre-election rally, said Nagamootoo, who was a possible nominee if Jagan turned down her party's proposal.

Some party members have been concerned about Jagan's health; she has been treated several times for heart problems.

Jagan moved to Guyana — a former British colony on South America's northeast shoulder — after her marriage in 1943 and later became a citizen. She helped her husband found the party in the late 1940s. She has served as health minister and is one of Guyana's longest serving lawmakers.