Elections follow hurricane on Caribbean island
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Much-anticipated general elections will be held on this multi-island Caribbean nation state on December 13, 2010.
The date was announced Sunday night by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves at a public political rally in Calliaqua.
The Prime Minister also indicated that the 15-member parliament was to be Monday, November 15, with Nomination Day on November 26, when contesting parties are to officially register their candidates.
This multi-island state of 150 square miles (389 square kilometers) has a population of just over 106,000.
The incumbent Unity Labour Party (ULP), led by Gonsalves, has been in office for nine years. It won the two previous elections and is seeking a third consecutive term.
The multi-island nation depends heavily on agriculture, especially banana and sugar cane production, as well as fishing and livestock, and, to a lesser extent, tourism.
Like in all other Caribbean Community (Caricom) member-states, there is no set election date, but one must be called at least every five years.
The ULP and the NDP have both been on the campaign for weeks while the voters awaited the announcement of the date, which under the Constitution, is set by the Prime Minister.
Gonsalves highlighted his government's record in education and his plans to complete an international airport by mid-2012.
On the other hand, the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) has long accused the ULP administration of mismanaging the economy.
It is anticipated that the elections will be a close fight between the two major parties.
The ULP lost a referendum on November 25 last year, when it sought a mandate to amend the nation's constitution to replace the prime minister as head of government by a president.
The referendum, which the ULP lost overwhelmingly, also sought to remove the British-based Privy Council as the final appellate court for St. Vincent and the Grenadines and replace it with the recently-established Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
An eloquent former Marxist Leninist and lecturer in Politics and Government at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Gonsalves favours closer relations between Caricom member-states and better coordination of economic and political affairs between the two regional entities, Caricom and the Organization of East Caribbean States (OECS).
He also has lead responsibility for Agriculture within Caricom and has long championed a better deal on the European market for Caribbean bananas, which have almost been driven off the market by competition from American-owned companies in Central and South America.
The NDP is led by Opposition Leader Arnheim Eustace with the backing of former veteran Prime Minister James Mitchell, who led the anti-referendum campaign by accusing Gonsalves and the ULP of wanting to remove all remaining vestiges of British rule to establish a republic.
The Caribbean state, which was the location for several scenes in the Caribbean Pirates movie series starring Johnny Depp, celebrated its 31st independence anniversary last October 27.
It was visited by Hurricane Tomas on October 30, which damaged hundreds of homes and displaced many, especially on the northern coast of the mainland, St. Vincent.
