The republican referendum there to abolish the monarchy and to replace Her Majesty with a new constitution failed spectacularly, and didn't come even close to the 67% of required votes to reform the system. The constitutional monarchists (and I use this term loosely) handily defeated the island republicans. Here are the final results:
YES = 43.13%
Prime Minister Gonsalves, who has warmly embraced the likes of Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro in the past, had advocated that it was time for Saint Vincent to stop having the Queen as its head of state, saying that he has nothing personally against Queen Elizabeth II, "I find it a bit of a Nancy story that the Queen of England can really be the Queen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines."
Despite heavy campaigning in favour of the proposed constitution from the ruling United Labour Party, the new charter was heavily criticised by the opposition New Democratic Party who argued that it did nothing to reduce the power of the Prime Minister or to strengthen democracy in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
How wonderful to see that Her Majesty's Dominions and nations are preserved under her rule.
ReplyDelete