PM welcomes new ULP candidate for Central Kingstown 

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, on Sunday, welcomed the nomination of IT specialist and football administrator Marvin Fraser as the ruling Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) candidate for Central Kingstown in the next general election.

Fraser, who was president of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation from 2016 to 2019, is now set to face off with St. Clair Leacock, a vice president of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP).

Leaock will be seeking a fourth consecutive five-year term as MP and has said that he intends to increase his margin of victory from 678  in 2020 to 1,000.

Speaking on WE FM, Gonsalves noted that the ULP’s Central Kingstown Conference on Saturday night forwarded Fraser’s name for ratification by the party’s national council.

“He was the only person who offered himself formally, or who was nominated formally,” Gonsalves said.

“There were two other persons who are interested, but they agreed to support Marvin.” 

Gonsalves said Fraser was educated at the St. Vincent Grammar School. “He did his GCEs. His first job, he went in 1995 in IT and he continued to do jobs at various places.” 

The prime minister said Fraser worked with Computer & Electrical Services Ltd. and then Expert Computer Centre Ltd.

“He worked at Karib Cable. He worked at the Mustique Company in the IT department, and he worked at Glossy Bay Construction in Canouan also as the IT system site coordinator,” Gonsalves said.

He said that since July 2022, Fraser has been working as the facilities manager of the National Sports Council, the state entity responsible for the management of most sports facilities across the country. 

“His wife, a professional lady who works, I’ve been advised, as the representative of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. And he’s a family man and his two young daughters, last night performed a beautiful gospel song. They sing very, very well.”

Gonsalves said Fraser has been involved in youth and church ministry, is involved in sports, is president of Avenues United Football Club and has “lots of community involvement”. 

He said Fraser is from the Paul’s Avenue area, adding, “It’s very interesting that this very bright young man who came from humble beginnings, and he after he did very well at his GCEs went off to work. 

“You know, the opportunities then were not as what they are now … to go, for instance, the Community College … and then after university as easily, but he did his training, his IT Training otherwise.”

Gonsalves said Fraser made a good speech at the event on Saturday.

“I saw people who I had never seen before at the ULP Central Kingstown gathering. So I was very pleased about that. And  it’s a very good start.”

The prime minsiter said that the ULP, which has been in office since March 2001, “is well known for refreshing itself on an ongoing basis. 

“We are having this year, the next elections, at least six new candidates,” he said and mentioned North Windward, South Windward, Central Kingstown, West Kingstown, South Leeward and the Southern Grenadines. 

The ULP is yet to select candidates for Soouth Windward, West Kingstown and the Southern Grenadines, though Gonsalvaes said Minister of National Mobilisation, Senator Keisal Peters will be the candidate for West Kingstown. 

“…  six out of 15 is pretty good counting in terms of refreshing,” the 78-year-old leader said.

“And one of the distinctive things about the Unity Labour Party, since we came to government in 2001, there’s no, saving except one particular candidate whom we had offered and who turned subsequently against the ULP –.

“Some people joke that you ought never to give consideration to a man who is shorter than Napoleon, particularly if he has Napoleonic tendencies,” said Gonsalves is known for his girth but not his height. 

“But persons have stayed, we have changed candidates who are sitting, and they have always remained faithful to the ULP and play some role in the ULP government in a state entity, or in some other important material, particular,” he said. 

The minister further noted that the ULP government has never fired a cabinet member nor has any of them resigned “which is a record in the Caribbean, perhaps is a record somewhere in the world”

He said that with political stability comes “economic and social stability.

“If you have political convulsions all the time, you’re going to have a mess, really, as we have seen in several countries in the world, and including in CARICOM,” he said.

The ULP will on March 28 celebrate 24 years in government.

“I’m not touching on any of the tremendous successes of the Unity Labor Party over the last 24 years. And I’m sure you’ll hear a lot on that at our celebratory rally for the 24 years, under the rubric ‘Labor is working excellent governance 24 years’,” the prime minister said.

“And I think everybody will concede that. In fact, even those who today would have raised questions about connections of representatives with constituencies and the like.”