Should PM Gonsalves attend the funeral of Lynch?

The funeral service of former talk show host Elwardo “EG” Lynch will be held tomorrow, and while there is much speculation about whether Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves will attend, the majority of people responding to an unscientific poll conducted by SEARCHLIGHT think he should attend.{{more}}

At a press conference on Monday, Gonsalves said he would like to attend, but is questioning if he should go, based on things that are being said about him.

“As long as I don’t have some important matter dealing with at the time, which I have to attend in my capacity as a Prime Minister, as a father or husband or some friend or something, I want to attend the funeral.”

Gonsalves, however, said he is worried that people have said that he is responsible for Lynch’s death because of the pressure they say he brought on Lynch.

Lynch, who hosted the Opposition’s New Times Programme on Nice Radio for over 10 years, died at the Garden of Eden Nursing Home at Dorsetshire Hill at the age of 68 years on July 9.

In the years when Lynch hosted the New Times programme, he and Gonsalves had an adversarial relationship. Once, while hosting the New Times programme, Lynch had accused the Prime Minister of using public funds to take his family on a trip to Rome in 2002. The Prime Minister sued Lynch and BDS Ltd (owners of Nice Radio) for defamation, and the court awarded him $250,000 plus interest and costs. Gonsalves had, on other occasions, accused Lynch of spreading untruths about him and his Unity Labour Party (ULP) Government. On the other hand, the ULP government has been accused of denying Lynch compensation in relation to a property in which Lynch once ran a nightclub at Black Point.

At Monday’s press conference, Gonsalves, however, paid tribute to Lynch, saying that their association went way back to when Lynch was a member of Gonsalves’ party, the Movement for National Unity (MNU). He also said that when Lynch was ill, he visited him at the hospital.

“I have to make the decision, would my presence contribute to some of these persons winding up people to create a lack of dignity, where Elwardo Lynch deserves, like all of us, a decent dignified Christian burial?” the Prime Minister said.

On July 14, after Gonsalves’ press conference, Opposition activist and talk show host Clemroy “Bert” Francois said in a post of Facebook, that if the Prime Minister turns up at Lynch’s funeral he should be booed. Making it clear that he was speaking on his own behalf and not on behalf of the New Democratic Party, Francois said, “if PM Ralph turns up at EG funeral he MUST be booed nonstop and if his gets up to speak persons present MUST walk out in a noisy protest and do not return until he is finish.”

On Wednesday, SEARCHLIGHT asked people on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Searchlight1) their opinion on whether Gonsalves should attend the funeral. Within three hours, we got 51 responses. Twenty-eight people said he should go, while 18 said no. Five people commented, but did not give a clear answer. Of those who voted no, some said he should stay away because of what might happen if he attends. Others said it would be hypocritical of him to attend, based on his history with Lynch. Of the people who said yes and explained their vote, some said differences should be put aside, others said as prime minister, it was his duty to attend.

Luzette King, host of the Global Highlights programme on Nice Radio, was critical of Searchlight’s poll, and posted in the Global Highlights Facebook group, that she hoped that if the poll had a majority “Yes” vote, that “the minority would do their do…”

General Secretary of the ULP Julian Francis told SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday that he will be attending the funeral as it is “the proper thing to do”. He said he had called into the NDP’s New Times programme and expressed his condolences on behalf of the ULP.

Francis, however, said that he could not say if the Prime Minister would be attending the funeral, which will be held at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Georgetown from 1 p.m. tomorrow, July 19. Viewing of the body will be from 12 noon.