Total confusion in NDP camp

08.AUG.08

Editor: The Opposition NDP is in a state of total confusion, and its collective leadership is completely at sea.

First, they embarked on the ill-advised course over the past four months of boycotting Parliament because the Prime Minister refused to “step aside” as a consequence of certain allegations made against him.{{more}} The PM proclaimed his innocence and stated that he was put in office by votes, not by allegations. He rejected the Opposition’s call for “stepping aside”. The Opposition Leader, Mr. Eustace, stressed that he was sticking to his guns, so to speak, on a presumably “high principle”, come what may. He repeatedly affirmed that he was aware of the Rules of the House, that if he and the elected members for the Northern and Southern Grenadines missed six consecutive meetings of the House of Assembly, by-elections would be triggered. He said repeatedly, too, that he was ready to face the by-elections.

On Thursday, July 31, 2008, the House met. Had the Opposition absented themselves, they would have missed five consecutive meetings with one to go.

Lo and behold, Mr. Eustace and his team abandoned their supposedly “high principle” and returned to the House. They offered no explanation for this turn-around. Obviously, for all their bravado, they, particularly Mr. Eustace, feared the possible loss in one or more of the by-elections. As the PM said in the House on July 31st, they have compounded the abandonment of “high principle” with “political cowardice, opportunism, and plain tomfoolery”.

Meanwhile, in the NDP, the faction against Mr. Eustace is gathering momentum. They want him replaced by Sir James Mitchell who is itching to test the waters. Frank Da Silva is on the war path against Eustace publicly. So, too, are others in the top echelons of the NDP.

The current NDP leadership has made a perfect mess of so many things recently, including, their position on the Argyle International Airport; their stance on drug barons and money-launderers; their folly on the real threats against the Prime Minister’s life; and their failure to address policy-wise the matters of rising food and energy prices. On all of these, Ralph and the ULP are miles ahead.

There is a crisis of leadership in the NDP. And it is getting worse.

Donald Patterson