ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Prime Minister Gaston Browne easily retained his St. John’s City West seat as his ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labor Party (ABLP) appears heading for a fourth consecutive term in office.
Browne received 1,444 votes, as against 412 for Alister Thomas of the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), in the constituency that Browne first won in 1999. Voter turnout in the constituency was 1, 343 or 59.71 percent.
Browne, who is the first prime minister ever to have won three consecutive general elections, called the general election nearly two years ahead of the constitutional deadline and urged supporters to ensure the party wins all 17 seats at stake.
However, on the sister isle of Barbuda, the incumbent Trevor Walker of the Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) retained the seat, polling 609 votes as against 398 for Kendra Beazer, a former BPM member who contested the poll on behalf of the ABLP.
UPP leader Jamale Pringle and former leader Harold Lovell are in a tight race to win their seats, according to preliminary results released so far in the election being observed by teams from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Commonwealth.
In the last general election, the ABLP won nine of the 17 seats.
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