Ruling party wins general election
By Peter Richards
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Dec 9, CMC – The ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) won an unprecedented fourth consecutive general election here on Wednesday winning by the same slender one seat margin as it did in the 2010 poll.
ULP leader Dr. Ralph Gonsalves
The ULP, lead by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, won eight of the 15 seats according to the preliminary results released here on Wednesday night. The main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) won the remaining seven seats.
“I am humbled by the significant and historic victory, “ Prime Minister Gonsalves told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“A fourth term with an increase in the popular vote votes and I am asking the nation to celebrate this victory in peace and maturity,” Gonsalves added.
The results meant that for a fourth consecutive occasion, NDP leader Arnhim Eustace, who lost the government to Gonsalves in 2001, has been unable to reverse the trend.
Gonsalves, who was also seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive term in power, easily retained his North Central Windward seat, polling 2,998 votes as against 743 for Kenroy Johnson of the NDP. Haran Grant, the candidate of the Democratic Republican Party (DRP) received just 17 votes.
Eustace retained his East Kingstown seat, polling 2,443 votes to defeat the ULP’s Luke Brown, who received 2,298 votes and Kariam Paris, 13 votes.
He has so far not yet conceded defeat.
Opposition refuses to concede defeat
The main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) Wednesday night refused to concede defeat in the general election accusing the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) seeking to hold on to power “against the wishes of the people”.
“We of the New Democratic Party are confident that we have won the general elections based on figures received by our various polling agents,” the NDP said in a brief statement.
According to the preliminary figures released by the Electoral Office here, the ULP won the poll by an 8-7 margin, the same results it had obtained in the 2010 general election.
But the NDP said that “our figures show that we won the Central Leeward seat by 6 votes, which means that we won the general elections by 8 seats to 7”.
It said that the ULP is “claiming victory” and that “any such action is a brazen attempt by a dying regime to hold on to power against the wishes of the people.
“We in St. Vincent and the Grenadines will not let this injustice stand. We are calling immediately for a full investigation into the late night activities in Central Leeward and upon behalf of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines we reserve all our rights in the matter,” the party statement added.
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves who won an historic fourth consecutive term in office told the Caribbean Media Corporation that he was “humbled by the significant and historic victory.
“A fourth term with an increase in the popular votes and I am asking the nation to celebrate this victory in peace and maturity,” Gonsalves added.
The closest race was in North Leeward where Patel Mathews barely retained the seat for the NDP by a mere seven votes, polling 2, 259 to the ULP’s Carlos James 2,252 votes.
Another close contest was in the South Leeward constituency where the NDP’s Nigel Stephenson was able to retain the seat by 13 votes. Stephenson polled, 2,638 as against 2, 625 for attorney Jomo Thomas, a ULP senator in the last Parliament.
Agriculture Minister Saboto Caesar easily retained the South Central seat, polling 2,484 to Addison Thomas, 1908 foe the NDP and Kenneth Horne, of the Green Party who received a mere three votes.
Foreign Affairs Minister Camillo Gonsalves, the son of the ULP leader, who contested the East St. George seat as a new comer, defeated NDP chairman Linton Lewis, the former Windward Islands cricketer by a margin of 3, 124 to 2, 521 votes in a four way fight.
