Arnhim Eustace

The Honourable Arnhim Ulric Eustace MP
Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
In office 27 October 2000 – 28 March 2001
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Sir Charles Antrobus
Preceded by	James Fitz-Allen Mitchell
Succeeded by	Ralph Gonsalves
Leader of the New Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 October 2000
Preceded by	James Fitz-Allen Mitchell
Member of Parliament for East Kingstown
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 June 1998
Personal details
Born	(1944-10-05) October 5, 1944
Political party	New Democratic Party
Spouse	Jennifer Eustace m. 1975 - present

Arnhim Ulric Eustace (born 5 October 1944) is a Vincentian politician and economist, who was the third Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and is the current Leader of the Opposition and president of the New Democratic Party (NDP).

Eustace is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of East Kingstown in the House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

On 27 October 2000, Eustace, then a political neophyte, succeeded James Fitz-Allen Mitchell as the leader of the NDP, and on 28 March 2001, the NDP was defeated in the 2001 general election in which the party was reduced from 8 to 3 seats, producing a majority government for the Unity Labour Party.

In the 7 December 2005 general elections, Eustace's NDP also won 3 seats. In the 13 December 2010 general election, Eustace's NDP saw an increase in the popular vote to 48.67%, winning 7 seats in a close election. The number required to form a majority in the House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is 8, and the incumbent ULP formed government with a one-seat majority.

Education and Career

Arnhim Eustace is an alumnus of the St Vincent Boys' Grammar School. He attended Sir George William University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he earned a BSc in Economics and a MSc in Development Economics from University of Windsor (now Concordia) in Ontario, Canada.

At the age of 27, Eustace became the youngest permanent secretary in St. Vincent and the Grenadines when he was so assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture. His ascendancy was cut short when in 1976 he resigned from the civil service on a point of principle. For roughly one year after his departure he fished, literally, the waters off Edinboro, until Sir William Demas flew into St. Vincent to recruit the young economist into the Caribbean Development Bank.

In 1977, Eustace and his family relocated to Barbados where, with the exception of roughly one year, they lived for the next 16 years, his full tour of duty with the CDB. There he rose from Administrative Officer through the ranks of the institution, ultimately becoming Director of Projects, third in the line of seniority at the regional institution, before repatriating to St. Vincent in 1993.

In 1985 Eustace was for 18 months seconded by the CDB to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which assigned him to the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to review and implement changes to the public finance system and to manage government finances as Director General of Finance and Planning.

Upon his 1993 return to St. Vincent, Eustace was appointed Fiscal Adviser to the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In 1998, he resigned from the public service and ran for political office, winning the East Kingstown parliamentary seat (which he has won for the past 4 consecutive elections by increasing margins of victory). Following the 1998 general elections, he was appointed Minister of Finance, Planning and the Public Service. Later that year he was offered the post of Deputy Secretary General of the British Commonwealth Secretariat in London, which he declined. Fifty-three countries constitute the Commonwealth of Nations.

From 1993 to 1998 Eustace was chairman of WIBDECO as well as the Joint Venture Holding Companies in the UK. He headed the Windward Islands negotiating team for the acquisition of GEEST Bananas (including the GEEST shipping fleet) in a joint venture with Fyffes of Ireland. Eustace was chairman of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). He was also the Government Director on the board of the East Caribbean Group of Companies (ECGC).

In 2000, Eustace was elected leader of the New Democratic Party and upon the October 2000 retirement of Sir James Mitchell, was appointed prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines until the NDP's loss at the March 2001 General Elections.

Eustace remains president of The New Democratic Party and Leader of the Opposition. In the three general elections his party has contested since he took the helm, the NDP has risen from 3-12 to 7-8, within narrow reach of forming government.

The last General Elections having been contested on 13 December 2010, General Elections are constitutionally due in St. Vincent and the Grenadines by the 12th December, 2015, although the nation's constitution permits a further 3-month grace period. It is not a grace period, it is a constitutional procedure if the parliament is for 5 years; it dissolves 5 years after the date of its 1st sitting, and elections are due 90 days thereafter. Therefore, elections are constitutionally due 5 years and 90 days after the date of the first sitting of parliament.

References

Samuel, Vin G. (1 April 2003). The Life and Times of Dr. John Parmenas Eustace. Trafford Publishing. p. 204. ISBN 978-1-55395-298-5. Retrieved 9 May 2010.