(L-r) Dr. Godwin Friday, Prime Minister-elect of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, outgoing Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
St. Vincent and the Grenadines has entered a new political era after the New Democratic Party (NDP) delivered a crushing, history-making victory, winning 14 of the country’s 15 parliamentary seats and ending Ralph Gonsalves’ near quarter-century grip on power.
The landslide win catapults opposition leader Dr. Godwin Friday into office as the nation’s seventh prime minister — a dramatic reversal of political fortune in a country long dominated by Gonsalves and the Unity Labour Party.
Friday, 66, who represents the Northern Grenadines and lives in Bequia, comfortably secured his seat. His party’s overwhelming victory also claimed some of the ULP’s most entrenched constituencies, including that of Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves, widely seen as his father’s political heir.
Meanwhile, Ralph Gonsalves, 79, held onto his North Central Windward constituency but now faces an unfamiliar position: leader of the opposition, after failing in his bid for a sixth consecutive term as prime minister.
The NDP’s performance — it’s strongest in decades — reflected a deep hunger for change among Vincentian voters.
Friday acknowledged the significance of the moment in a late-night interview on state-owned NBC Radio:
“I am going to do my very best to deliver to the people of this country. Now is the time to come together and rebuild St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
The nation is still recovering from the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Beryl, and Friday has promised to move swiftly on economic revival and social stability.
When them stay too long in office, they get comfortable and forget what they were elected to do. Twenty four years were too long so he deserved the lost of the election.
Incredible result Winning 14 of 15 seats shows the people were ready for change. It’ll be interesting to see how the NDP moves forward with such a strong mandate.
Congrats to Friday, but the work start TODAY. Landslide wins come with big expectations
Vincentians send a message loud and clear: you cyah rule forever.
Let’s hope Friday deliver. We vote for progress, not political revenge
The success of NDP might inspire similar political awakenings elsewhere in the region, a reminder that long-standing governments aren’t immune to change.
Comment *Ralph hold on to one seat like when you playing domino and only have one tile left
Let’s all give the man a fair chance
That was a deadly beating
Change was overdue. Twenty-five years is a whole generation. Let the country breathe now