CMC – The Virgin Islands Party (VIP) led by Andrew A Fahie, won the general elections in the BVI after gaining eight of the 13 seats in the Virgin Islands House of Assembly, according to the preliminary figures released here.
The VIP was one of four political parties, including the incumbent National Democratic Party (NDP) that contested the elections held after Premier Dr Orlando Smith, decided to forego a by-election for the Fifth Electoral District that became vacant last October following the death of Representative Delores Christopher
Smith did not contest Monday’s polls, after having indicated in June last year that he would be stepping down and not contesting the next general election.
Electoral officials said 25 candidates from four political parties as well as a lone independent, contested the election in nine districts, while 15 candidates contested the poll as At-Large Candidates.
Candidates paid the US$1,000 fee on Nomination Day, a 50 per cent increase from the last election.
It is the first time in the history of the BVI that four political parties -the Progressives United (PU), Virgin Islands Party (VIP), Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM) and the NDP- contested an election here.
According to the preliminary results, the NDP did not win any of the 13 seats, with the new opposition now comprising Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (4 seats) and the Progressive United, whose chairman, Julian Fraser won a seat.
The election was the first general election in the Territory to use electronically tabulated voting rather that manual counts.
