CARICOM Nations Conclude a Landmark Year of Electoral Change

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has nearly concluded an unprecedented series of national elections in 2025, marked by significant political shifts and historically lopsided results.

Last week, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and St. Lucia held the final general elections of this active cycle.

In St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves’s United Labor Party (ULP), after nearly 25 years in power, retained only one of 15 parliamentary seats. In neighboring St. Lucia, Prime Minister Philip Pierre’s St. Lucia Labor Party (SLP) secured 14 of 15 seats, leaving the opposition with a single representative.

This year, voters across 12 CARICOM members – including Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Belize – went to the polls. Attention now turns to The Bahamas and Antigua & Barbuda, where leaders have indicated elections will occur before the end of 2025.

The results have intensified scrutiny on long-serving leaders elsewhere in the bloc, notably Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, in office since 2004.

Haiti’s Path to Elections

Amid this electoral activity, Haiti remains a critical exception. The violence-wracked nation has not held general elections since 2016.

However, its interim government recently announced a provisional electoral calendar targeting August 2026 for presidential, parliamentary, and local votes. Preparations include registering over 200 political parties and securing polling locations – a cautiously positive step for a country paralyzed by gang violence since President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination in July 2021.

As 2025 ends, CARICOM’s political landscape demonstrates both voter-driven change and the persistent challenge of sustaining democratic processes under crisis.