NDP employing psycho politics

02.MAR.07

EDITOR: In our local politics, we are witnessing a raging war for the capture and control of Vincentian minds by the New Democratic Party (NDP). Since 2001, the NDP, in the realization that its leader, Arnhim Eustace, did not have the charisma to compete with Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, and that charisma was a defining attribute traditionally dominant in Vincentian politics, embarked on a strategy to employ psycho-politics in its efforts to gain the control of the electorate. Indeed, the NDP’s strategy has been and continues to be the sustained use of psycho-politics to demonize Dr. Gonsalves’ character with a preponderance of manufactured issues.{{more}}

Evidence of this first surfaced with the production of a TV commercial in the 2001 General Elections, which featured Dr. Gonsalves with red horns growing from the back of his head, and flames emanating from his nostrils and mouth.

The TV commercial visually depicted Dr. Gonsalves as the Lucifer. The TV commercial however did not make it to the 2001 campaign TV screens as the NDP leadership did not want to be directly associated with it and the strategy to have one of its members pay to have it broadcast failed as the local TV station had already established a quota for the three parties contesting the elections.

Since 2001, the battle has raged. Keith Joseph was first out of the blocks with his Just Another Look programme which mentioned without fail and continues to mention, Dr. Gonsalves name in almost every sentence with something wrong or bad about him or his government.

EG Lynch and the New Times programme sustains the psycho-politics strategy weekdays, while further support is given by other radio programmes hosted by Dr. Adrian Fraser, Randy Dopwell, Dougie DeFreitas, Vynette Frederick, Bert Francois, Junior Bacchus, Matthew Thomas, and Frank DaSilva, just to name a few. In the print media, we have Dr. Fraser, Bassy Alexander, Ken John, Paul Lewis, Marlon Mills, and a host of others.

The psycho-politics employed by these NDP protagonists simply serve one purpose, that is, to continue to demonize Dr. Gonsalves, so that Vincentians would second guess the Prime Minister and his government on any issue, be it contrived or otherwise. And in our recent past, the issues have been mostly contrived, or when somewhat meritorious, more molehills than mountains. There is a now conspiracy theory behind every act by the government.

None of the issues or call-to-arms lasted as long as Miss Janey fire, while the Gonsalves government transparently and painstakingly elucidates the truth. Amusingly the NDP accuses Dr. Gonsalves of Communism, while indeed utilizing a political tool that Communists in Red China, North Korea, and the USSR employed to their advantage.

The NDP psycho-politics has taken hold of some in our society who stare truth in the face and question its validity as they are so now conditioned to believe ill of Dr. Gonsalves and his government. There are those who are also fed up of the persistent cry wolf propaganda of the NDP. Then there are those who cannot be bothered with the psycho-politics of the day.

The balance will tip one way or the other in Elections 2011, with that vote deciding how successful the Communist-inspired NDP strategy of brainwashing will be. Too many people in St. Vincent & the Grenadines focus on problems and not solutions to the challenges our developing nation state faces.

Mark Roberts