KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC – Opposition Leader Dr Ralph Gonsalves took the oaths of allegiance and declaration as a Member of Parliament on Thursday before the New Democratic Party (NDP) administration presented the 2026 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure.
Gonsalves, whose Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) 24-year reign ended in a crushing 14-1 defeat in the Nov. 27 polls. He took the oaths one day after House Speaker Ronnia Durham-Balcombe barred him from attending a meeting of a committee of Parliament, because he had yet to take the relevant oaths.
Gonsalves, who turns 80 on August 8, is the oldest and longest serving MP, in his 32nd year representing the constituency of North Central Windward. He was the lone member of his party to win his seat and had delayed his swearing-in as a parliamentarian.
The former Prime Minister told a press conference in December that he was not sure whether he would take the Oath of Allegiance at the first sitting of Parliament on Dec. 23 or at a later sitting. He had said the “Oath of Allegiance can be done on that day, can be done on any subsequent day.”
“I have it under prayerful consideration as to whether I will take my Oath of Allegiance on that day or another day. I am the leader of the opposition appointed by the Governor General under the Constitution,” Gonsalves then said.
In addition to Gonsalves, two opposition senators – Carlos James, who lost the North Leeward seat after one five-year term, and Keisal Peter, a ULP senator and minister in the last Parliament, who failed to win in West Kingstown, also took their oaths on Thursday.
On Thursday, Speaker of the House, Ronnia Durham-Balcombe, welcomed the members of the opposition, saying, “The House is now fully constituted.”
The ULP came to office in a 12-3 landslide in the March 2001 elections, booting out the NDP, which had served 17 years, having been elected in 1984.
Following the 2001 victory, the ULP returned to office with a similar 12-3 mandate from the electorate in 2005.
However, in the 2010 elections, the ULP lost four of its seats, but still won by an 87-vote margin.
In 2015, the ULP again won by a narrow 87-vote margin. But, in the 2020 elections, they snatched back a seat, North Leeward, by one vote.
However, the writing was on the wall for the ULP. Since 2005, despite big projects, they had been getting fewer votes even as the NDP increased its popular votes.
and then ){kind=link}