KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) — Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has brushed aside suggestions that he was involved in setting fire to several buildings here on Sunday, in a bid to postpone the pending general elections in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“What is the reason I set the fire, according to them? Because I want to declare a state of emergency and I want to have the elections postponed,” Prime Minister Gonsalves told Parliament on Tuesday.

The fire gutted the buildings that previously housed the Electoral Office, the Government Printery and the Ministry of National Mobilisation.

Gonsalves’ Unity Labour Party (ULP) is seeking a fourth consecutive term in office in general elections constitutionally due by March 2016, but the prime minister has repeatedly said voters will choose a new government before year end.

The fire was the second to hit the capital in a week and Gonsalves commended the firefighters for their efforts on Sunday.

The Fire Department is yet to comment on the blaze, but Minister of State in the Ministry of Works Julian Francis said Monday that vagrants were living in the buildings before the blaze.

“Vagrants had invaded the buildings and the police were working on that, trying to get them out. We have no idea as yet as to what caused the fire. I believe it must have been a mishap by a vagrant. You know what their activities are like,” Francis said.