Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has warned that his ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) that was returned to power with a greater majority in Thursday’s general election will not allow for anyone “to alter the verdict of the people”.
Gonsalves, 74, issued the warning at a ULP’s victory rally in Arnos Vale, St Vincent and the Grenadines, on Friday night as a recount in the North Leeward constituency ended in the early hours of Saturday.
Gonsalves led the ULP to a 9-6 victory over the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) and in the process registered his record-breaking fifth consecutive victory at the polls.
In the last two general elections, the ULP had won by a slender one-seat majority in the 15-member Parliament.
“There are some, now that the elections are over, who may seek, by means largely ignoble, to alter the verdict of the people. I advise with all solemnity that they must put their personal agendas aside, put their hunger and thirst for power, to lay them down, and to accept defeat, in the famous words of Sir Louis Straker, you must take your licks like a man,” Gonsalves told party supporters.
“I warn that those who take the people’s patience for granted are in danger of being gravely mistaken,” Gonsalves said, telling the rally that people have delivered a verdict through their vote and the nation must get on with the business of forming a new administration.
