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Gaston Browne and the ALP win a landslide victory in the Antigua & Barbuda election
Gaston Browne (pictured), led his Antigua & Barbuda Labor Party (ALP) to a landslide victory in the general elections held on Thursday and has pledged to make the twin-island nation an economic powerhouse in the Caribbean during his first term in office.
In a national address early Friday morning, outgoing Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer conceded the election, thanking his colleague candidates and his supporters and wishing the new government great success.
Preliminary results showed that the ALP had won at least 58 percent of the overall vote.
Browne, 47, welcomed the offer of outgoing prime minister Spencer to work with his administration for the good of Antigua & Barbuda.
“It is evident that the people have spoken and they have spoken loudly” Browne said in a radio and television broadcast, adding that he was “very humbled by the mandate” given to his party.
But he reminded the country that “the work has just begun” adding “ the reality is that this country is in dire straits and would require the efforts of the entire nation”.
The Antigua & Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) has not yet given the full results of the polls, more than 12 hours after the 164 polling stations closed. So far it has said that of the six seats declared, the ALP has won five and the outgoing United Progressive Party (UPP) the other.
Browne described the victory as “one for you the people” saying he was determined to implement policies and measures that would make Antigua & Barbuda an economic powerhouse in the Caribbean. -(CMC)