Dr. Ralph Gonsalves was sworn in as Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for a third consecutive five-year term on Wednesday and immediately indicated that his new administration would continue plans to assist persons still affected by the passage of Hurricane Tomas in late October.
“I give the assurance as I gave at the very beginning of the striking of Tomas that we will take care of all of our people, there will be no discrimination what so ever on political or any other grounds in respect of fixing people’s houses and providing for them in every material way,” Gonsalves told reporters after he was sworn in at a simple ceremony at the official residence of the Governor General Sir Frederick Ballantyne.
He said that even though the government has “an excellent recovery and reconstruction programme, the fact of the matter is this, when some people have their roofs on and others still do not have their roofs on as yet you would expect tensions and problems”.
The Category One hurricane slammed into the island on October 28 causing millions of dollars in damages to crops, homes and other properties.
Gonsalves said that the victory of this ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) at Monday’s general elections had been achieved in very “challenging” circumstances given the impact of the global economic and financial crisis on the island.
“This victory was achieved in circumstances where we are over two years of economic difficulties generated from the fiscal and economic meltdown overseas, problems with which we have absolutely nothing to do with,” he said.
Apart from Gonsalves, also taking the oath of office were parliamentary representative for Marriaqua, Girlyn Miguel, who was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister and Judith Jones Morgan as Attorney general.
The rest of the Cabinet will be sworn in on Sunday at a playing field in the capital.
Preliminary results show that the ULP got 27,648 votes or 51.61 per cent of the popular votes while the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) that has since called for the results to be declared null and void, received 26,231 ballots or 47.78 per cent. The Green Party, the third party in Monday’s election, mustered 123 votes, a mere 0.21 per cent of the popular votes.
The ULP won eight of the 15 seats in the election that both the monitoring teams from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) said had been conducted in a free and fair manner and reflected the will of the local voters. The NDP won seven seats.
Meanwhile, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding has sent “hearty congratulations” to Gonsalves on his electoral victory.
Golding said that the re-election of the f St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister for a third consecutive term “is testimony of his government’s hard work and dedication” and that it is “.an expression of the confidence placed in the government by the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines”. (CMC)
