KINGSTOWN -Residents of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines head to the polls on Thursday in a general election that could usher in an unprecedented sixth-consecutive five-year term for Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP).
Gonsalves, 79, has served as prime minister of the multi-island Caribbean nation since 2001 and is one of the longest-serving democratically elected leaders in the world.
A total of 32 candidates will run in the general elections, though polls show the ballot will be primarily contested between the ruling ULP and the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), headed by Godwin Friday.
The NDP has proposed introducing a citizenship-by-investment program to generate revenue for the nation, and severing relations with Taiwan, which St Vincent has held since 1981, in favor of greater proximity with mainland China. Gonsalves and the ULP have long opposed those issues.
The election is Friday’s second bid for power, after unsuccessfully running against Gonsalves in 2020.
Analysis from Canada-based consulting firm Dunn Pierre Barnett and Company published on November 12 found that the ULP has a 64% probability of retaining power.
(Reporting by Robertson S. Henry; Writing by Iñigo Alexander; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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