Vincentians go to polls to elect new government

Despite the public optimism of victory by the two leaders, both parties have accused operatives on either side of marring this election campaign with sporadic violence that has not been a prominent feature of past St Vincent and the Grenadines elections.

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent - After almost a month of anticipation, the voters of St Vincent and the Grenadines will today decide whether the United Labour Party (ULP) will return to power for a third consecutive term.

Since Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of the ULP called elections on November 14 and dissolved Parliament the following day, both his party and the Arnhim Eustace-led New Democratic Party have led strong campaigns in a bid to woo the electorate.

At stake are the 15 constituency seats in the House of Assembly, of which the ULP has held on to a 12-seat majority since both the 2001 and 2005 general elections. Noted Barbadian pollster Peter Wickham predicted on the weekend that the ULP would retain its grip on power, albeit with a slimmer majority, as polls indicated the ULP had seven secure seats, while another five marginal seats could go either way. Wickham predicted that the NDP could only guarantee the three seats it won in the previous election and would also have to fight to gain traction within the five constituencies that were up for grabs. The much smaller Green Party has also nominated 13 candidates to contest the 15 seats but no major upsets are predicted as a result of this and pundits are still calling the election a two-horse race.

Supervisor of Elections Sylvia Findlay-Scrubb announced that a record 101,053 voters out of a population of around 110,000 people have been deemed eligible to cast their ballots in this year’s general election, which was constitutionally due by March 2011. A high voter turnout is expected and political analysts have speculated whether this will signal a similar 1984 turnaround when the incumbent St Vincent Labour Party was routed by an 89% voter turnout that saw the NDP swept to power, and then remain there for an unprecedented four terms.

The 64-year-old Gonsalves has led a campaign based on the accomplishments of the ULP over the past two terms – primarily reduced unemployment, improved economic growth and a network of developing diplomatic relations that have brought investment inflows and other benefits to the archipelago.

However, the 65-year-old Eustace is banking on the momentum gained from the defeat of the Gonsalves-backed 2009 constitutional referendum to propel his party into power. The trained economist has been attacking the government’s stewardship of the country’s economic fortunes and has assured the electorate that the NDP also has the connections to bring investment and job security to the country. He has also decried Gonsalves’ “Leftist” relations Venezuela, China and Iran as holding the country up to international scrutiny and suspicion.

Despite the public optimism of victory by the two leaders, both parties have accused operatives on either side of marring this election campaign with sporadic violence that has not been a prominent feature of past St Vincent and the Grenadines elections. Both leaders have sought to distance themselves from the violence that has shocked Vincentians at home and abroad and have promised to crackdown on those found responsible.

The Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community have both announced observer missions to St Vincent and the Grenadines to monitor the elections.