ULP’s ‘Come Home Rally’ attracts thousands

general elections campaign. In a near hour-long message, party leader, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves capped off his time on the campaign trail with a message in which he expressed gratitude, reassurance, and a call for unity.

“For the last 57 years of my life I have dedicated it to the upliftment of our Caribbean civilization and its Vincentian component,” he said urging voters to lift him up and keep him there.

He reiterated that personal grievances or vanities should not derail the collective mission of national progress”, urged aggrieved supporters to “come back home”, and assuring them that their issues will be addressed within the party once the general elections were over.

Gonsalves who this year contested his 11th general election since independence on October 27,1979, reminded Vincentians of his decades of service – political and otherwise, and urged eligible voters not to stay at home on polling day.

In highlighting his administration’s record since being elected into office on March 28, 2001, Dr. Gonsalves pointed to unemployment falling from 25% in 2001 to under 9% currently; poverty being reduced to 4%; and near-universal access to electricity, pipe borne water, and internet services, adding that St. Vincent and the Grenadines has climbed the United Nations Human Development Index, now ranking ahead of Jamaica, Belize, Suriname, and St Lucia. He spoke of his vision and that of the ULP to take the country to “first world status” in another 15 years, and pledged that Labour would continue to lift SVG higher.