Castries, Nov 29 (EFE).- Lawyer Godwin Friday was sworn in as the fifth prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines since the country achieved independence in 1979, promising “important and transformative changes” to improve the population’s standard of living.
Friday, 66, replaces veteran Ralph Gonsalves, who was seeking an unprecedented sixth consecutive term after first being elected in 2001.
The new Prime Minister took office late on Friday from Governor-General Dame Susan Dougan, less than 24 hours after leading his New Democratic Party (NDP) to a resounding election victory.
The NDP took 14 of the 15 seats in Parliament, ousting the Unity Labor Party (ULP) of Gonsalves, the longest serving prime minister in the Caribbean and the only ULP candidate to win a seat.
“It is my duty to do everything possible to improve the standard of living, moral values, hopes and expectations of our people, so that everyone can dream and aspire for a better life in this country,” Friday declared.
With the country having just 110,000 inhabitants, the new prime minister urged “to unite resources and intellect” to work for the common good.
“It does not benefit us as a people that some prosper while others struggle, and that we consider it, in some ways, a matter of destiny. We can do something about it to make sure that we all do better,” he stressed.
Regarding their victory in the elections, Friday considered that the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines appreciated the service they provided in the opposition.
“It showed me that people are ready for a change that makes a difference in their lives, not incremental changes, but important changes, transformative changes,” he said.
Friday announced that the new Government will be announced next week and will get to work fully to implement the electoral promises of “a new dawn” for the country.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, about thirty islands located in the Lesser Antilles, were a British colony until 1979 and are part of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
The Caricom Secretariat congratulated Friday and expressed its hope to collaborate with his new Administration to support “a strengthened and effective regional integration.”
The elections were supervised by a Caricom mission, which in its preliminary report noted that there were “some operational and personnel problems.”
Among them, he cited the long lines at several voting centers due to the lack of electoral personnel and the large number of voters assigned, as well as a certain lack of knowledge of voters in the process of casting their vote.
However, the mission concluded that, overall, the elections in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines took place “in an orderly, peaceful manner and in an environment of strong civic participation.”
(c) EFE Agency
