Dr Ralph Gonsalves of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) was on Wednesday morning sworn in as prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines for a third consecutive five-year term.
The National Broadcasting Corporation said that about 60 persons, including Governor General Sir Frederick Ballantyne, Gonsalves’ family, the ULP candidates in Monday’s elections, and the nation’s diplomats, were present at Government House where Gonsalves took the Oath of Allegiance, the Oath of Office, and the Oath of Secrecy.
Education Minister Girlyn Miguel, the four-time winner of the Marriaqua constituency, was sworn in as the nation’s first female deputy prime minister, while public servant Judith Jones Morgan was retained as attorney general, also for a third term.
Gonsalves said that the other members of his Cabinet will be sworn on Saturday at the playing field in the Central Leeward town of Layou, where first-time candidate, former teacher turned diplomat, Maxwell Charles, retained the seat for the ULP.
Sir Frederick, in congratulating Gonsalves, said, “Sir, I know you are well aware of the onerous task facing you as you seek to build this nation over the next five years.”
The head of state said that Monday’s general elections, in which the ULP won eight of the 15 parliamentary seats while the New Democratic Party won the other seven, were probably “the most intensely fought election, at least in my memory.”
“Suffice to say, that the elections are now over and our challenge is to unite the country. From the elections, I think we all can say that democracy is alive and well in St Vincent and the Grenadines. There might be election petitions but we are a nation of laws, and, if there are, the court will have to deal with them and we will have to be guided by the orders given from the court of laws,” he said.
Sir Frederick appealed to his “brothers and sisters” from the ULP, the NDP and the Green Party “to all see this nation as our nation.”
“It belongs to all of us and if we work together, we will progress. If we don’t, then it will hamper our progress,” he said.
He noted that Gonsalves is prime minister of the nation’s 106,000 residents, adding, “…we look to you for guidance and look to you to take the initiative to bring this nation together.”
Gonsalves said that the victory, in which his party got 32,200 of the 62,289 votes or 51.25 percent, compared to the NDP’s 30,012 votes — 48.18 percent — and the Green Party’s 145 votes — 0.23 percent — was the “sweetest” of his three election triumphs.
“It is the narrowest of the three victories but it is the sweetest because of the nature of the campaign waged against my party and against me personally. For ten years, there has been a campaign of personal vilification, of falsehood, of defamation, of innuendo, of scurrility, there have been concocted stories, a bitterness generated, which is unprecedented in our politics,” Gonsalves said.
Gonsalves said he was again extending to the opposition the hand of friendship he offered during his victory speech Monday night.
He noted that election watchers, including the Organisation of American States (OAS) observer mission, had said that the elections were free and fair.
The OAS, in a preliminary statement, said its ten-member delegation visited every polling station in the multi-island nation.
“In every case observed, the polls opened on time and had the requisite materials and polling officials. In the morning, there were long lines of voters who patiently waited to exercise their franchise. The presiding officers, poll clerks, party agents and police worked harmoniously throughout the long day, helping citizens to find their polling stations and ensuring an organized and peaceful environment,” the OAS said.
Gonsalves said his government will focus on the ten policies outlined during the election campaign as well as the rebuilding after Hurricane Tomas, which devastated the northern part of the island at the end of October.
“There will be no discrimination whatsoever on political or any other ground in respect of fixing people’s houses and proving for them in every material way until they get themselves back on their feet, this goes for the farmers also,” he said. 
