ULP new candidates blaming government for constituency failures, says Dr Friday

Leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Dr. Godwin Friday said first time candidates of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) are distancing themselves from failures in the constituencies that they are hoping to represent in Parliament, a move he concludes makes no sense to right thinking persons.

“…they want to separate themselves from their government and to say, somehow, I am new and different.

“If you’re new and different, then you shouldn’t be a part of the failed administration that you’re criticizing,” Dr Friday said on Hot 97.1 FM’s AM Mayhem Morning show last Monday, November 3, 2025.

The NDP held six of the 15 parliamentary seats before parliament was dissolved on October 28, 2025, but since the 2025 election campaign started, several ULP politicians who are first timers on the political trail have mentioned in public that their involvement in electoral politics is going to bring change to the constituencies that they have inherited from their predecessors.

In one instance, a new comer blamed the ULP caretaker for several issues in the constituency, painting a picture that their predecessor did not fulfil his obligation.

“If you’re saying that things haven’t worked out in a constituency, there was a fellow who said one time that he is Prime Minister in every square inch of the country, so he’s responsible for whatever happens in the country,” Dr. Friday charged.

“You can’t blame [St Clair] Leacock for a pot hole in the street in Central Kingstown; you can’t blame me or Terrance Ollivierre for the fact that a wharf here and there is breaking down in Canouan, in Union Island- all of these things have to be the primary responsibility of government,” the NDP Leader pointed out.

“So, if you get up on the platform and you say ‘listen, I’m a new candidate, therefore I can criticize the failure of my government for representation in my constituency’…now, what are you doing with them? You’re being a hypocrite. Basically, that’s what it is,” Dr. Friday said on the radio programme.

He said people have been referring to him as power hungry, but said he was not the one who blocked the roads in 2000.

In 2000, the ULP was engaged in a period of civil unrest known as the “Roadblock Revolution”, during which roads were blocked as a form of political protest. This action was aimed at the then-ruling NDP government, and ultimately led to early elections which the ULP won in 2001.

“I didn’t block any road. I really can’t understand this kind of flipping the script. They try one kind of attack on me and say ‘oh you’re too laid back, you’re this’ and so on, and then all of a sudden now I’m the most aggressive. I want power,” Dr. Friday queried.

“…I look like I power hungry? I’ve been doing this for 25 years. I’ve been doing it in opposition, right? I have done it because I believe the service that I give to my country, in whatever capacity I do it, I have to give 100%.”

He said some ULP politicians are claiming to represent something new and that is “disingenuous”, since the government is responsible for what happens in all constituencies even though a government politician does not hold that particular parliamentary seat.

“We are a point where people are saying, ‘guys, you know, you’ve been there for so long, you haven’t delivered for us. We want change’”.

“…it’s the people who are saying, we want the change. We are giving them an option, a better option than the present government and the people will make a decision…,” Dr. Friday said, while charging that the national economy has “essentially ground to a halt” under the ULP administration.

The Opposition Leader said that agriculture and fisheries, once vital pillars of the Vincentian economy, have suffered due to government neglect and lack of strategic support.

He said that farmers are losing money because of price instability, and the absence of guaranteed markets and farmers do the work, hire people, and when it comes time to sell, the prices have dropped.

“They can’t even recover their costs. That discourages them from planting again,” Dr. Friday said, while noting that systems are needed to stabilize prices and protect farmers from losses.

Dr. Friday also scoffed at the government’s announcement of a further $5 million injection into the fund for fisherfolk to obtain boats and equipment, claiming that few if any, have benefited.

“Ask around and see if you can find anyone who got help from that programme. You won’t. It’s another example of promises not kept,” the aspiring prime minister said.