The people will decide

Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, has at last ended months of fruitless speculation about the date of the next general elections by formally announcing on Tuesday night of this week, that the much-anticipated general elections will be held on Thursday, November 27, 2025.

The announcement was made at a mass meeting of the governing Unity Labour Party held on the grounds of the Richmond Hill Playing Field in Kingstown. It came after a weekend of heightened activity based around celebrations to commemorate the country’s 46th anniversary of the reclamation of our sovereignty on October 27, 1979.

Those activities were mainly organized by the State as befitted such an occasion, but it is true to say that, particularly in the presentations of the Prime Minister, there was much blurring of the lines between state and governing party. We must insist that these be kept in their rightful place.

Overall, one cannot but feel encouraged by the response of the public to the events organised for the celebrations, and as we congratulate the government and chief organisers, we must give our fullest congratulations to the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines, of whatever political persuasion, for their full demonstration of patriotism. We could all feel proud to be Vincentian.

However, we must emphasize to this and succeeding Prime Ministers and governments to be mindful of the separation of State and governing party.

The Prime Minister and Unity Labour Party (ULP) must also be very heartened by the public responses to the independence activities. There had been much speculation about what “goodies” would be included in an independence/pre-election package, and PM Gonsalves did not disappoint with a wide-ranging set of announcements. Naturally, his political opponents have branded these as election gimmicks, but given the government’s record it is difficult to separate these from its regular interventions. What it has done is to skilfully time these to fit in with independence, while at the same time meshing with the upcoming elections.

The more important issue though must be that we must be careful of mixing our independence and patriotism with our partisan choices. While constitutionally there is no restriction on the choice of election dates, as for instance in the USA where there are fixed legal provisions governing the timing of elections, the Westminster system which we have adopted leaves such timing up to the governing party, and the Prime Minister in particular.

Ever since the year of reclamation of our independence, there has been in practice, a correlation between the October independence and general elections, which seem to have followed between independence and Christmas. This offers a real temptation for any government to dangle goodies, and with an eye on the polls. It would appear to be a matter of a sufficiently serious nature to attract national discourse.

We have less than a month before general elections and therefore one can only assume that the government is satisfied with the level of preparation of the Electoral Department to handle the elections. One would hope that, given our post-election history over the last two decades, the Opposition also has that confidence in the management of free and fair elections. On a broader level however, there is need for a deeper discussion of the issues before the electorate. It calls for initiatives from civil society- including the church, business sector, the labour movement and various community and sectoral interests- to organize public debates and discussions between the contending political forces so that there can be a deeper understanding of the programmes and proposals of both sides.

It is not enough to rely on the one-sided presentations organized by the respective parties. They need to be challenged, especially in these troubling times.

Finally, we must all work to facilitate an atmosphere of tolerance and peace to ensure that our choices at the polls are made without duress. You, the people will decide!