Results of election petitions will see NDP being declared winners – Opposition Leader

When the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) election petitions are heard in court, sufficient evidence will be presented and as a result the NDP will be declared winners of the December 9, 2015 General Elections.

That’s the prediction of Leader of the Opposition and NDP President Arnhim Eustace, who last Saturday, at the Layou Playing Field, {{more}}encouraged party supporters to continue to fight against what he considers an illegitimate government.

Eustace, addressing hundreds of persons at the event, dubbed a ‘Victory Rally’, said that the NDP will soon be declared victors of the December 9 elections.

He said that while this may will take time, it will happen.

The Leader of the Opposition also used the opportunity to commend the persons who stage daily protests outside the Electoral Office on Bay Street.

“It is a tremendous sacrifice for people to be there on a regular basis and we sincerely thank them for what they have done for the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines to keep democracy alive in the country at a time when all seems lost,” said Eustace, whose NDP has refused to accept the results of the 2015 elections.

He said that the NDP is proud of its supporters who daily continue protest action, as their sacrifice continues to keep the NDP’s objections to the election results alive.

The Opposition Leader said that they have a two-pronged approach to the present situation – protest action and the election petitions which have been filed in court.

Eustace said that when he observed the crowd which had gathered in Layou, he knew that the protest action was alive and persons must not give up, as the NDP has sufficient evidence that will allow them to win the petitions, “and then we will have a government in St Vincent and the Grenadines, because we don’t have one now. What we have is an illegitimate government.”

Eustace said that after listening to the laying of the Estimates in Parliament last Friday, he is of the opinion that Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves and Minister of Economic Planning Camillo Gonsalves “…need to kneel down and beg God pardon,” as they were talking about sending members of the police force to arrest NDP parliamentarians.

The NDP boycotted Parliament last Friday.

“When I heard how they behave in the Parliament yesterday, their Parliament not ours, I know that the end was coming,” said Eustace, who stressed that while they were absent from Parliament, they did a better job of commenting on the Estimates at their meeting last week Thursday, January 28, than the ULP did in Parliament on Friday, January 29.

Eustace, an economist, said that the Estimates is one thing, but the budget has to come next and he is of the opinion that Prime Minister Gonsalves is not in a position to put forward any meaningful budget. He said also that he does not think the Prime Minister “understands the economics of the budget” and deputy prime minister Louis Straker once commented that he (Straker) does not understand the Estimates.

Saturday’s rally also heard from Eustace’s daughter Maia Eustace and a number of other NDP politicians and supporters.(LC)