General elections were held in
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea ...
on 9 December 2015. The result was a victory for the
Unity Labour Party, which retained its one seat majority. However, the NDP has challenged the results in two constituencies, North Windward, and Central Leeward.
Electoral system
The 15 elected members of the
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level.
Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gover ...
were elected in single-member constituencies using the
first-past-the-post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
system.
Campaign
A total of 43 candidates contested the elections. The two biggest parties were the incumbent Unity Labor Party of Prime Minister
Ralph Gonsalves and the opposition
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
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of
Arnhim Eustace, both of which ran candidates in all the 15 constituencies. Smaller parties included the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...
and the
Democratic Republican Party, who only competed in seven and six constituencies respectively.
[
As 11,902 registered voters were first-time voters, both major parties looked to woo young voters. Gonsalves emphasised the importance of the youth as "solutions to the problem of our civilisation" rather than "problems to be solved." Eustace announced initiatives aimed at decreasing unemployment, including "proposals for youth, sports, and culture."][St. Vincent and Grenadines holds parliamentary elections]
Xinhua, 10 December 2015
Marginal seats
Conduct
The OAS sent an observer team. There were 227 polling stations, which opened between 07:00 and 17:00.[
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Results
Elected MPs
Reactions
In reaction to the win Gonsalves said: "I am humbled and honoured that the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines embraced our bold vision for the future and rejected the politics of hate,"[ he also called for national unity to address developmental challenges. However he added that there were issues in the constituencies of ]North Leeward
North Leeward is a Vincentian
Parliamentary constituency. It has been represented by Roland Matthews since 2010.
Election
Election 2015
Source
http://www.caribbeanelections.com/vc/constituencies/NL.asp
Populated places in Saint Vincent ...
and South Leeward and "we are also calling for an immediate recount to ensure that all the votes are counted in those constituencies. There are more rejected ballots than the margin and those ballots should be examined closely to determine the intent of the voters."[
The NDP refused to concede the defeat according to inconsistencies in the Central Leeward constituency. A party statement read: "We of the New Democratic Party are confident that we have won the general elections based on figures received by our various polling agents. Our figures show that we won the Central Leeward seat by six votes, which means that we won the general elections by eight seats to seven."Unity Labor Party wins St. Vincent and Grenadines parliamentary elections]
Xinhua, 11 December 2015 Leader of the opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
Arnhim Eustace, who won his seat against ULP candidate Luke Brown by fewer than 50 votes, added that there were many irregularities took place in his constituency of East Kingstown, including "illegal voting, and contradictory voters list to agents."[Ruling party wins historic fourth term in St Vincent and the Grenadines]
WINN FM, 10 December 2015
References
{{Saint Vincent and the Grenadines elections
Saint Vincent
2015 elections in the Caribbean
Elections in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines