BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Mar. 14.2018 – DR. Keith Mitchell has returned his New National Party (NNP) to government after they took a landslide victory in yesterday’s (Mar. 13) general elections.
Coming out of polling day, the Mitchell-led NNP again returned with all 15 seats that were on offer for the third successive elections.
The New National Party swept the elections in 1999 and 2013.
Polling data showed that the NNP won 33,786 votes, whilst the Nazim Burke led-National Democratic Congress only mustered 22,243 votes.
Speaking on television last evening, Dr. Mitchell said he was humbled by the result, as he was in 2013, and more than he was in 1999.
“I think people are very clear that they wanted to see continuity of what we wanted to do in five years. They also trusted us from all indications that we were not lying to them. We would tell them the right stories and do the things by and large; and if we make a mistake we should be able to admit it.”
He said that he will be having a serious discussion with his team about going forward, as many of the candidates are very young.
The long-time leader pointed out that he did not receive a call from the leader of the NDC congratulating him on the victory.
He added that he did not receive any calls from the former leader either and, as such, was not expecting any from Burke.
“I will certainly reach out, but I have not seen that sort of response from V. Nazim Burke…while I would be happy to receive it, I wouldn’t be shocked if it doesn’t come”.
Job creation, uniting the population and the enhancement of the health sector are several of the priority areas that the NNP will be focusing on over the next five years, according to Mitchell.
He noted that the reason for all the successes over the last several years were due to the unification of the people of the country.
The NNP is expected to have a victory rally today (Mar. 14) to celebrate.
