St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Ralph Gonsalves and his party, ULP, re-elected

Ralph Gonsalves will serve as prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines after leading his Unity Labor Party (ULP) to a fourth consecutive election victory.

The ULP won with the same one-seat majority it had in the last election, with 8 of the seats in the 15-seat Parliament. The other 7 went to the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) led by Arnhim Eustace.

Both party leaders won their seats, along with Gonsalves’ son, Camillo Gonsalves, who contested an election for the first time and defeated the NDP’s Linton Lewis, who is the opposition party’s chairman. He got 3,124 votes to Lewis’ 2,521 votes in the East St. George riding.

The prime minister Gonsalves said he was “humbled” by the victory.

“I am humbled and honored that the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines embraced our bold vision for the future and rejected the politics of hate,” he said. “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.”

Also contesting the election but making no real impact were the Democratic Republican Party (DRP) and the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Green Party (SVGP). -(CMC)