On Independence Day, October 27, scores of Vincentians flocked to the Victoria Park to see the parade of uniformed groups and hear the Prime Minister deliver his Independence speech.

What they didn’t expect to see was Ivan O’Neal, leader of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Green Party, staging a silent protest by waving the flag of the People’s Republic of China.{{more}}

His protest left many persons questioning if that was the appropriate time for him to be carrying out such a protest.

O’Neal has always been vocal about his opposition of St Vincent and the Grenadine’s (SVG) relationship with the Republic of China on Taiwan and has long called for SVG to adopt the One China Policy, which would shift alliegance from Taiwan to be mainland China.

SEARCHLIGHT conducted a survey over a one-week period asking: ‘Was the Independence Parade the appropriate place for O’Neal’s protest?”

Of the responses we received 75 per cent of the respondents said ‘No’, that was not the appropriate place and time, while 25 per cent said ‘Yes’, the Independence parade was the appropriate place and time.

The questions also led to debate in the comment section of the Facebook post. One Facebook user, who goes by the name D’quan Divine, commented: “To everything, yes there is a season BUT, protesting has no season,… the man does what others are not brave and courageous enough to do.”

Another user, Winston Jambus Young said: “Very inappropriate but exactly the reason why he chose it, to have the most shock value and grab the attention of the media and the public.”