00:00This Monday, December 1st, general elections are underway in San Lucia,
00:04where more than 179,000 people are expected to vote.
00:08Our correspondent, Melinda Los Santos, brings us more details.
00:19Hello, Ale. Exactly as you were saying, we're here in San Lucia.
00:23We're in Castries East, the eastern part of the capital,
00:27and the polling is underway at this moment.
00:30Polling stations have been open since 6.30 a.m. local time.
00:35It's 8.45 at this moment, so the polls have been open for over two hours.
00:40Let's recall that this is the general elections called a little bit early, actually,
00:46by Prime Minister Philippe Pierre.
00:48He's seeking to renew his mandate for the San Lucia Labour Party,
00:53and he called for these elections.
00:55And this early call can be explained a little bit by his confidence,
01:00the confidence that the party has in the possibility of renewing
01:04based on the achievements that they have conquered during these past years.
01:09Let's recall the mandate started in 2021 right after COVID,
01:13and the main topics, the main goals were the stabilization after that
01:18with a program focused on social measures.
01:23One of the most prominent of them, for example,
01:26was the establishment of a national minimum wage.
01:30That national unification was one of the first for San Lucia.
01:35Along with that, several plans, for example, to boost youth jobs creations as well.
01:42So those were some of the measures.
01:44Now, the SLP is now leading with the opposition.
01:49That is the United Workers' Party, led by Alan Chastanet.
01:55He actually was Prime Minister right before Prime Minister Philippe Pierre here in San Lucia.
02:00And some of the main characteristics of that government was a right-wing government
02:07that focused solely and primarily on the private sector in order to try to boost the economy.
02:15That Prime Minister ended his mandate in 2021 with a landline victory.
02:20And as we were saying, the SLP is trying at this moment to revalidate for five more years.
02:28Let's recall 17 constituencies that are fighting vote-to-vote in order to obtain that majority.
02:35Whoever gets the majority of the 17 will elect the Prime Minister.
02:39And actually, this, where we are right now,
02:42Castries East is the constituency where the Prime Minister is candidate himself.
02:47So that is one of the local factors taken into account.
02:52We will have more on this election.
02:54But for now, I leave you with a little bit of what we were seeing yesterday on the day before the election.
03:00So, Ale, that is all for now.
03:02You can see the package and we'll come back with contact in future news briefs.
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