St. Vincent and the Grenadines–November 6th, 2020–Dr. Ralph Gonzalves romped to a fifth consecutive term in last week’s election in St. Vincent. Without postal voting, although a number of voters were temporarily released from Covid-19 so that they could go out to vote.
The exemption was issued to 242 travelers who arrived in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines between October 22 and 31, 2020. They were told to report to polling stations between 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., traveling in sealed vehicles with spaced seating, and wearing masks and taking other hygiene precautions.
Upon arrival at the polling station, the voter then had to indicate to a police officer that they were present to vote and wait in the vehicle until directed to exit. And then it was back to quarantine.
Preliminary figures released by the electoral office showed that the ULP had won nine of the 15 seats in the Parliament, an increase of three seats on the one-seat majority he had in the past two general elections.
It is the first time that a political party has won five consecutive general elections in St Vincent.
ULP supporters celebrated the party’s win, but one of the causalities of the election was Health Minister Luke Brown, who was defeated by newcomer, Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble in the East Kingstown constituency.
Gonsalves, 74, easily won his North Central Windward seat he has been representing since 2001, brushing aside his two contenders – Chieftain Neptune of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) and Kadmiel McFee of the CVG Green Party.
In a message posted on his Facebook page, Gonsalves thanked voters for returning the ULP to power.
“It’s celebration time. It is five in the tail,” he wrote. “I am humbled and honored that the people of St Vincent & the Grenadines embraced our bold vision for the future and rejected the politics of hate, backwardness and colonialism.”
NDP leader Dr Godwin Friday, 61, who led the party into a general election for the first time, easily retained the Northern Grenadines seat he has represented in Parliament since 2001.
The NDP, as has been customary, swept the two seats on the sister isles of the Grenadines.
“Today, the people of St. Vincent & the Grenadines embraced the politics of “Lifting SVG Higher”. They embraced our progressive agenda for the future by returning us to government.
“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 stated.
