BACK IN POWER: Kenny Anthony leads SLP to victory in St. Lucia/Guyana votes…Final count likely by this evening and PNP congratulates Dr Kenny Anthony on St Lucia victory

THE People’s National Party (PNP) has congratulated Dr Kenny  Anthony and the St Lucia Labour Party on the party’s victory in yesterday’s  election.

President of the PNP Portia Simpson Miller conveyed sincere  congratulations on her own behalf and on behalf of the PNP.

Simpson Miller said Dr Anthony and the St Lucia Labour Party have  been returned to power "to continue the work they started to advance the  development of the island nation and to improve the lives of its people".

“During his tenure as prime minister 1997 – 2006, Dr Anthony led  St Lucia to record investments in tourism, infrastructure and general economic  development,” Simpson Miller said.

The PNP president pointed out that The St Lucia Labour Party and  the PNP have had a close fraternal relationship, which has strengthened over the  years.

She said the victory was a mandate for the party to again provide  the high quality of governance for which the party has become known; and to  implement a social and economic agenda for the people.

Peace and calm prevailed across Guyana yesterday, minus what the elections chief, Dr Steve Surujbally, called “small fires,” as thousands of Guyanese voted for a new government and new legislature.
The results are only now trickling in, and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is careful not to pin itself to a definitive time for the announcement of the final results.
In fact, an initial announcement of preliminary results billed for just around midnight last night was put off to this morning as Dr Surujbally appealed for calm, acknowledging that the Commission understands the anxiety of all waiting for the results.
Dr Surujbally called on political leaders not to engage in anything that would bring tension, unease and fear.
He also appealed to ordinary Guyanese not to speak in any way that would incite hostility or to react in hostility to what others say.
With only preliminary results thus far, it is unclear which of the parties are in the lead. The incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) are the major parties contesting the elections.
Observers of the Organisation of American States (OAS) declared the elections to have been conducted in a “fair” manner.
Most polling stations closed at the appointed 18:00 hrs deadline with no extension allowed by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), leaving what Surujbally estimated to be just about a dozen persons without the opportunity to vote.
Dr Surujbally last evening could not also say what percentage of the 470,000 registered voters showed up to cast their ballots.
In isolated incidents, there were anxious moments at polling stations and heavily armed Police were called in to quell boisterous supporters of political parties.
Three hours after polls opened, Dr Surujbally commended voters for their impeccable behaviour that allowed for the smooth conduct of the polls. But there were incidents, such as at the Campbellville Secondary School, where supporters of the oppositions quarreled about PPP/C candidates being allowed into the place of poll with proxies.
GECOM took a decision to fire staffers at a polling station in the Berbice region who did not follow procedures, namely in issuing tendered ballots which would not have been counted.
This was one of the incidents in which he said elections staff demonstrated “extreme dotishness” in administering the vote at some polling stations.
These are the incidents Dr Surujbally equated to “small fires” in the electoral process.
“We could not have an election without a little drama,” he told reporters at a press conference at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.
However, Dr Surujbally said that all the incidents were those that were surmountable.
He said that reports of persons having an ID card and being unable to find their name on the list to vote was impossible and he begged to be shown evidence of a single such case.
Hours before the opening of polls, APNU expressed concern that GECOM had not issued Polling and Counting agents with certificates of employment that would allow them to vote at the polling stations to which they have been deployed.
Dr Surujbally said that this concern, which threatened to be the perennial storm in the teacup, had to be viewed in the light of the law. He said to issue such certificates, despite precedent, would have been illegal and the Commission would not change its mind.
He said that it was possible for such polling day agents to leave and go to their respective polling stations while calling in their party candidates to sit in.
Dr Surujbally also said he had received assurance from bauxite company Rusal Guyana that it had gone as far as facilitating its workers to come out of the mines and vote, despite a claim by the Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir that the company was preventing workers from voting.
Rusal said that the company had beforehand rented and paid eight buses “to ensure a comfortable and timely transportation of our employees from Aroaima to vote in Georgetown, Berbice, New-Amsterdam, Linden and elsewhere.”
The company said that these employees would be paid in accordance with current labour legislation which says that companies cannot exact penalties from any worker who takes time out to vote.