President of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Godwin Friday is encouraging women supporters of the party to rally to ensure that women have equal opportunities to serve at highest levels of governance.
Friday told the party’s women’s arm convention in Kingstown on Sunday that women “must advocate vigorously to ensure that women who wish to serve the country at the highest levels of governance are supported in every way possible and have an equal opportunity to do so in the interest of the party and the country”.
He encouraged the women to “form links and alliances with like-minded organisations and individuals locally, regionally, and internationally to provide the support and resourced necessary to advance the aims and objectives of our party.”
Friday said the strength of the 43-year-old NDP lies in the commitment and determination of its members.
“Everyone has a part to play to continue building on this solid foundation — a foundation that bears the mark of thousands of our women who gave of their very best to see our nation prosper.
“That some commitment and determination exist in this convention hall today and I am confident that the NDP women’s Arm will help to lead us to political victory again.”
The opposition leader said that his party has taken on the task of making SVG better.
“It is a big job, especially after so many years of ULP mismanagement. To succeed, we must stay united in our prime objective: that being, to get rid of Ralph Gonsalves and the ULP (Unity Labour Party) from government.
“That is our prime objective. We can achieve nothing else without being in government. They have held our country back for far too long. Every day that passes with them in government, we fall further behind — behind our neighbours in the region and we fail to meet the just and reasonable expectations of our citizens.
“Everyday, the hole gets deeper; every day, the light at the end of the tunnel, as far as this country’s economic development is concerned, gets more faint. But, it is still there and we must continue with ever more effort to pursue it, always remembering that it is darkest just before dawn.
“Our people expect us to deliver victory to them and to fulfil our promise to our nation. So, stay focused in all that you do; stay focused so that your deliberations today will help you to achieve your objectives and the objectives of the New Democratic Party,” Friday said.