Browne congratulates Gonsalves on 5th election win in St Vincent

ST Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, 74, won a fifth term for his Unity Labour Party (ULP) in Thursday’s general election.

He won nine out of 15 seats, snatching one seat, North Leeward, from the rival New Democratic Party (NDP) led by attorney Dr Godwin Friday.

SVG online news source News784 reported Gonsalves as saying the people had voted for the ULP’s progressive agenda towards “lifting SVG higher.”

He said, “I am humbled and honoured that the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines embraced our bold vision for the future and rejected the politics of hate, backwardness and colonialism.

“We ask Vincentians to celebrate this victory in peace and maturity. Now is the time to come together as one nation to address our developmental challenges and move forward to uplift our nation and its people.”

Gonsalves, an attorney and labour expert first became prime minister after winning 12 seats in the 2001 elections.

Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne congratulated both SVG and Gonsalves.

“I am pleased to note the peaceful conduct of the general election in our Caricom neighbour St Vincent and the Grenadines, which is a continuation of a proud tradition of democracy in the region.

“Formal congratulations to Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves have been extended via the appropriate diplomatic channels.”

The Government had sent former housing minister Edmund Dillon and former chief elections officer Ramesh Nanan as Caricom observers to the election.

The SVG Electoral Office indicated that of 98,112 registered voters, some 65,595 people voted, giving rise to 65,251 valid votes cast. This indicated a 67 per cent turnout.

The ULP tallied 32,353 votes, or 49.58 per cent of valid votes cast. The NDP earned 32,847 votes, or 50.33 per cent.

The SVG Green Party’s two candidates got 35 votes and an independent candidate got 16 votes.