New St. Lucian Prime Minister, Sir John Compton - Contributed

CASTRIES, St. Lucia (CMC):

IN A stunning victory, 82-year-old Sir John Compton guided his United Workers Party (UWP) to office following general elections in St. Lucia on Monday.

Preliminary results indicated that the party won 11 of the 17 seats at stake in the election, defeating the Dr. Kenny Anthony-led St. Lucia Labour Party, which won the remaining seats in the country's Parliament.

Experience over age

"Age is not a factor here. I am not here running for the Olympics. Age is really in the state of mind. I am giving my experience and my intelligence that God gave to me. I am not going for a marathon, I am not going for the Olympics," said the politician, who guided the island into associated statehood and then independence from Britain in 1979.

Sir John, who in 1996 resigned as Prime Minister, returned to active politics "at the behest of the people" following the resounding defeat of the UWP in the general elections of 1997 and 2001.

The SLP, which was seeking an unprecedented third term in office under Dr. Anthony, controlled 13 seats in the last Parliament and had been buoyed by the results of an opinion poll published on the eve of the elections showing that it would win as many as 14 seats.

Electoral officials estimated that around 60 per cent of the 135,958 electors voted.