NDP is wrong for SVG – PM Gonsalves

PRIME MINISTER Dr Ralph Gonsalves says the New Democratic Party (NDP) is wrong for St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), unsustainable and dangerous.

He notes also that without a doubt, the party he is leading into the next General Elections has a comprehensive developmental narrative and as a government, they have been implementing that plan despite the many challenges that have affected the country.

Gonsalves noted that the NDP has four proposals: the selling of passports; the breaking of diplomatic ties with Taiwan and inviting in China; setting up 15 separate constituency funds to be run by the parliamentary representatives; and austerity in government.

“All of them are wrong and dangerous,” the prime minister said while addressing the third Unity Labour Party (ULP) virtual meeting last week.

He said the ULP is the party of choice for any person who is concerned with good governance and development.

“On the other hand, the NDP does not have any coherent vision, philosophy, policies, and programs. What you get from the NDP is a number of disjointed ideas and proposals and everyone who purportedly speaks for the NDP has his or her own set of half-baked ideas or ill-conceived plans,” Gonsalves said. The Prime Minister said the result of this is a veritable tower of babble, tacking always to opportunism and embracing right wing, conservative wrong-headed ideas and anti-people prejudices.

“They demonstrate what they are really, nothing but a coalition of anti-Ralph and anti ULP personages…” Gonsalves said while noting that NDP politicians look like yesterday’s men and women with day before yesterday’s ideas.

“They stand for nothing progressive, sustainable, inspiring or hopeful and you have to provide hope for people,” Gonsalves said while describing the NDP’s leaders as apostles of learned helplessness who oppose everything progressive by saying it can’t be done.

“The NDP makes it a habit where they trivialize every complex matter,” the Prime Minister stressed.

Gonsalves, who is leading the ULP into a fifth consecutive election is encouraging persons to vote for the ULP on the basis of the party’s vision, philosophy, policies and programs. He said that persons must also look at the party,

the leader and the candidates in the constituencies.

“In respect of the party, the voter invariably looks at the following matters: first, the vision, philosophy, policies and programs of the party; secondly, the organization and functioning of the party and thirdly, what is the record of the party…,” Gonsalves said.

He noted that voters should look at what the party has done, what they are doing and who they have been representing, “yourself or the people.”

Gonsalves said the ULP has consistently brought policies and programs fit for SVG and the challenging times we face.

“Our vision is undoubtedly people centred, our philosophy is that of social democracy applied to the circumstances of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Its philosophical premises are evident through the uplifting and majestic language of the preamble to our nation’s constitution framed under labor’s watch in 1979 and the delivery of good governance,” Gonsalves said.

Going further, the Prime Minister said the ULP is on a quest to build a modern competitive many sided, postcolonial economy which is at once, national, regional and global.

He said the ULP is focused on job creation and wealth creation among other things while addressing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Gonsalves said that any objective person will see that the ULP is the better party by far with the interests of the people of SVG, its members and supporters at heart. He said the party’s policies and programs are detailed in several documents including the manifesto, a new one of which will soon be published.