Opposition party welcomes victory of ruling party in Venezuela

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Oct 17, CMC – The main opposition St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) Tuesday welcomed the victory of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in Sunday’s gubernatorial elections.
The PSUV candidates won  17 of the 23 governorships even as the opposition conplaimed that the polls were rigged.
Newly re-elected SLP leader, Phillip Pierre said that it is significant that the PSUV has now won 20 of the last 22 nationally-contested elections in Venezuela.
“The SLP supports the position of the majority of Latin American and Caribbean governments that external intervention is not the right way to solve Venezuela’s internal problems,” Pierre said in a statement.
“The SLP continues to advocate for dialogue and negotiations between the government and opposition in order to arrive at a lasting solution for the political problems of Venezuela,” he added.
The SLP, which also held its annual conference of delegates last Sunday, re-endorsed Pierre, who was elected party leader one year ago replacing Dr. Kenny Anthony who led the party into defeat in the 2016 general election.
Pierre received an overwhelming vote of confidence from the delegates attending the convention, polling 256 votes with 16 against him.
In his acceptance speech, Pierre, the former deputy prime minister, urged supporters to work collectively and increase their mobilization efforts to ensure that the SLP is prepared to defend and protect St. Lucia “from the poor governance of the United Workers Party government.”
Former agriculture minister, Moses Jn Baptiste, who was elected chairman of the party, said the SLP needed to work hard to convince voters that it was ready to replace the Allen Chastanet government in the next election.
Baptiste replaced former president of the Senate, Claudius Francis, who did not seek re-election.
In the 2016 general elections the UWP defeated the SLP by an 11-6 margin.