ULP Celebrations – a Forerunner to Elections?

The governing Unity Labour Party (ULP) marked the 24th anniversary of its historic election victory of March 28, 2001, with a massive celebration on Sunday last at the Chatoyer National Recreation Park at Rabacca. In strict political terms it was a celebration well-deserved for, by all stretches of the imagination, irrespective of one’s political views, the ULP’s unbroken national leadership is a remarkable one.

It is not easy, certainly in our Caribbean, for one political party to hold the reins of power for so long.

Indeed, following the ULP’s initial electoral victory, the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) had prematurely branded Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves “one-term Papa” expressing confidence that his administration would be defeated at its first attempt to repeat the 2001 victory. Those words have come to haunt the Opposition cruelly for it lost four successive attempts at unseating the ULP. Hopes had been high in the NDP camp after it spearheaded an attempt at wholesale constitutional reform by Dr Gonsalves in 2009. Yet, one year later the party was unable to capitalise on this.

Dr. Gonsalves is currently the longest-serving Head of Government in the Caribbean. He has been able to have his name written in the list of renowned long-serving Caribbean leaders headed by Dr. Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago. Locally, along with his Deputy, Hon. Montgomery Daniel, he has broken the stranglehold on the Garifuna/Kalinago constituency of North Windward established by the Joshua’s since 1951. The NDP has built much of its support on the old Joshua/PPP base much as the ULP has profited from the old SVG Labour Party base. Indeed, if one listened to last Sunday’s victory rally, one could be forgiven if one thought it was an old “Labour” victory given the extent to which “Labour” was touted, instead of the ULP.

Like all long-serving administrations, the ULP has its weaknesses and in politics, time contributes to attrition. But there is no doubt that the ULP has led a remarkable transformation of the political, economic and social transformation of our country. For its part, it attributes this to what it calls a “Revolution”, a term disputed by its detractors. Yet its accomplishments cannot be denied and holding the celebratory rally at the Rabacca Park, a ULP creation, is by itself one manifestation of its accomplishments, embellished by the recent state acquisition of the historic Balliceaux island to become a national shrine.

Yet, it would be far better for national democracy if, even when celebrating, that the ULP would publicly acknowledge its own shortcomings and not be afraid to admit to them or pledge rectification. It is a fundamental weakness in our political system which affects the Opposition as well. Refreshing the slate of candidates for the upcoming elections as the ULP has done, is certainly a positive sign, but a similar approach also needs to be taken towards many areas of politics and implementation of policies.

As it is, all now seems set for the upcoming general elections sometime within the next 12 months. It is one in a series of elections in a number of CARICOM countries, including Jamaica, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. These can have serious implications for CARICOM as a whole and its direction in an increasingly fragile world and they represent the region’s commitment to political democracy. We wish them all the best.

• Renwick Rose is a Social and Political commentator.