Requiem for Boss Politics in SVG

EDITOR: Congratulations and many thanks to the Vincentian working class for effecting a peaceful change of government.

Already working people have held a requiem for BOSS POLITICS. (Note the coffins in our streets during the post-election celebratory events). But they must understand that BOSS POLITICS did not begin with Ralph Gonsalves. Preceding him was Milton Cato who epitomized this type of politics. He had passed the repressive Public Service Act, the removal of which was one of the demands of the Teachers’ Union during the 1975 strike. In the epoch of the Black Power Movement- the progressive vanguard of the day, he declared: “I am Black and I have power.” Then the masses got rid of him.

There was also James Mitchell, the well-known “I and I” Prime Minister, leading exponent of BOSS POLITICS, heavy-handed and controlling. The late calypsonian, Lexi (Alexis Joseph), fittingly captures him in his kaiso classic “Ease Up, Fisherman”. During the famous 1972 six-six-one election result, when the nation was on high tension and he was needed for a resolution, he arrogantly declared: “Ah gwine fishing”.

Ralph Gonsalves’ “WORLD BOSS” designation is, of course, very current. And, as the election results made clear, WORLD BOSS can become world loss.

Considered the redeemer, he passed his draconian vaccine mandate, a heavy hammer that became “a hook in the gill” during the recent election campaign.

As dialectics so eloquently teach us in the study of the Unity of Opposites, you cannot have a “boss” without its opposite, “bossed”.

And, in many historical circumstances the contradiction is resolved and the BOSSED bosses the BOSS. History is offering PM Friday the opportunity to eschew boss politics and embrace its opposite, People’s Politics- participatory democracy. Will he accept this offer?

Four Lines the New Government Should Not Cross:

● 1. No Foreign Troops/Operations in our Country.

The new administration must NEVER compromise our independent stature

in the world. Engage in a balanced foreign policy always with the interests of Vincentians paramount. It is true that the NDP is a member of the backward Caribbean Democratic Union, in turn a member of the far-right International Democratic Union of which the Republican Party of the USA is a leading member. On November 27th, working people voted for Godwin Friday to be our Prime Minister.

We do not expect to get Donald Trump.

● 2. No Citizenship by Investment

Our citizenship should not be sold. Such prostitution flies in the face of our national identity and definition, our very being and soul, our history and the sacrifices of our forebears including our First National Hero, Joseph Chatoyer.

Will PM Friday sell our passports and STILL give a March 14th National Heroes Day speech at Dorsetshire Hill?

● 3. No Victimization of Workers

Touch no worker “because of politics.” Of course, in the heat of an election campaign, some workers may have gone too far but that must not result in the termination of employment. This new administration must encompass a new approach.

PM Friday is advocating for “inclusion” as practice, and this, by definition, involves tolerance.

● 4. No Neglect of Constituents

Constituents of all political colours and persuasions must be impartially served.

The crossing of this line by the recently defeated parliamentarians proved to be electorally fatal.

The neglect by ULP “representatives” was so extreme, it bordered on abandonment. That dark past must give way to a brighter, enlightened future.

Joy must come in the morning.

Mike Browne SOLIDARITY RIGHTS