We should be free to wave yellow or red without conflict

23.DEC.10

Christmas Greetings from Arnhim Eustace, Leader of the Opposition

It is no accident that the primary decorative colours of the Christmas Season appear to be yellow and red. Dovetailed strips of maroon and gold festoon the corridors of commercial buildings and homes alike hailing the birth of the Christ child.{{more}}

Such is the spirit of Christmas: a period when we realize the otherwise impossible. When else could we pair yellow with red? When else do we feast on meals and share gifts more varied, made with greater effort and more valuable than at other times of the year? For a rapidly increasing number of us, it will be the only hearty meal we will eat or gift we will receive for the year. Churches will see a resurgence in attendance, too.

But for how long? When the once elegant drape of those decorations droops, the gold streamers fade to yellow and the maroon gives way to a flat red, the feast is reduced to splayed bones and unmistakable wine stains on bleach-white tablecloths, ravenous rust begins its own feast on blindingly shiny galvanize and the first hints of buyer’s remorse dance across the conscience as the lumber creeks so, too, does our national harmony come undone.

It need not be so. We should lament or celebrate the state of affairs as we are inclined, without losing our ability to work together. We should be free to wave yellow or red without conflict.

For my part and that of the NDP, we shall watch every move the incumbent ULP administration makes, criticize as needed, expose where needed, and force positive change without losing sight of our goal of nation building. Verily, we shall do so in service of our goal of nation building.

We shall be unrelenting in our role, not because we are reactionary, but because we believe fervently at Christmas and every other time of year that St. Vincent and the Grenadines shall be delivered from tyranny by a just Father who so loved the world that he gave it his only begotten Son, the Christ.

Merry Christmas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.