Opposition Leader Ralph Gonsalves has appointed two members of his former cabinet, both of whom lost in the Nov. 27 general elections, as senators in the next Parliament, which formally opens on Tuesday.
Gonsalves, whose Unity Labour Party (ULP) was voted out of office on Nov. 27, suggested that none of the senators might attend Tuesday’s ceremonial opening of Parliament, adding that he was also not sure if he would attend.
The two senators are lawyers Carlos James and Keisal Peters.
James was MP for North Leeward, serving from Nov. 5, 2020, when he was declared the winner of the seat by one vote after a contentious recount, until Nov. 27, 2025, when the New Democratic Party’s Kishore Shallow, a first-time candidate, defeated him by 560 votes.
In 2015, James, then a first-time candidate, fell 12 votes shy of unseating Roland “Patel” Matthews of the New Democratic Party (NDP), who secured a second term in office.
James served as a senator and deputy speaker of the House of Assembly from January 2016 to March 2020, when he resigned and was appointed speaker of the House of Assembly.
He served as Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Sustainable Development and Culture in the last administration.
Peters, a senator for the ULP in the last Parliament, created history by becoming St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ first female minister of foreign affairs.
She served in that capacity for one year before being assigned the national mobilisation minister in a cabinet reshuffle in July 2024.
Peters failed to unseat the NDP’s Daniel Cummings in West Kingstown, even as the NDP chairman widened his margin of victory by 1,241 votes — up from 714 in 2020 — to be re-elected to a fourth consecutive term in office.
Gonsalves announced the senatorial appointments in a social media video on Monday in which he extended Christmas greetings and said Vincentians will hear him on national issues.
“And there are many of them to talk about, but now is not the time for that. Now is the time for love and brotherhood and sisterhood and good neighbourliness and solidarity,” said Gonsalves, who was prime minister from March 2001 until last month’s polls.
He said that Peters was in New York with her mother, who is recovering from an operation.
“And I am not sure whether I will be at the first sitting of the Parliament, the formal opening of Parliament, to take the Oath of Allegiance, nor am I sure that Carlos would be there, too. There are some security matters which have to be worked out,” Gonsalves said, but did not elaborate.
James was among the eight ULP parliamentary representatives in the last parliament who failed to retain their seats as the electorate rejected the party, handing a landslide, 14-1, victory to the NDP, which had been in opposition since March 2001.
When he lost last month, James became the first North Leeward MP since independence in 1979 to be rejected by the electorate after just one term in office.
On election day last month, a video was circulated on social media showing James in a verbal confrontation with a constituent, telling him, “Next five years ah mine.
Another video, purportedly recorded inside a polling station, James is seen in a tussle with a uniformed police officer, even as a voice off camera says, “Officer, throw out the man. He ah humbug the system.”
As the police officer began pushing James out of the polling station, the then-incumbent sat on the floor before standing up shortly after.
Another voice off-screen urged James to leave, saying, “Carlos, yo haffu come out. Carlos, yo cyah do dat. Now that people ah come vote fuh yo, yo ah come mek noise? Man, come out nuh, man. Carlos, way yo ah do? Yah disrespect me, man. … Stop it!”
On Nov. 28, James conceded defeat, saying in a Facebook post, “… while the final results were not what we hoped for, I accept the will of the people and extend sincere congratulations to the New Democratic Party and the newly elected representative, wishing them every success as they serve our beloved country, and I remain deeply grateful for the opportunity to have represented you. I will always stand with the people as we continue to build our beloved SVG”.
Folks Ralph was looking at Carlos to take over the ULP leadership. He had no intention of selecting Caesar. Ralph had his eyes on Brewster, Carlos and Peters not Saboto. He also realized that Camillo would be rejected, so he wasn’t peeking round that corner.
Incidentally, I have seen Saboto out of his hole and now vocalizing his views. He was afraid to peek around the corner where Ralph was stalking.
I like his Christmas message, but where was Ralph for more than 20 years. He’s now trying to unite the nation after splitting it for so long. I hope the ULP supporters are listening and would go down that peaceful pathway
Gonsalves will be gone come next election. NDP will get all seats.
Peter will not add any value to the ULP in the next election, the same can.be said of Carlos James who is rather young .Peter’s may be most likely be up against Igal Adams or who will most likely replace Leacock. The ULP will go the way of the dinosaur.