(Editor’s Note: Hans King, press secretary to Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, has circulated to the media the following letter to the Editor of Caribbean News Now! It is in response to this article — “St Vincent PM booed out of own constituency“. Please scroll for an I-Witness News video of the booing incident inside the church.
July 25, 2014
The Editor
Caribbean News Now
Jerry George misinforms on booing at funeral service
Your news story dated Thursday July 24, 2014, under the bold caption: “St. Vincent PM booed out of own constituency” is riddled with misinformation, misrepresentation, and falsehoods. Your reliance on a report from Jerry George, a well-known supporter of the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) and a wild, persistent critic of Ralph Gonsalves, does an immense disservice to your readers. Let us state the facts:
- Prime Minister Gonsalves attended the funeral of well-known NDP radio propagandist Elwardo Lynch which was held at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Georgetown, a town in the North Central Windward Constituency which he has represented in Parliament for 20 years since 1994.
- The Prime Minister was personally invited by Lynch’s family to attend the funeral and to deliver a tribute. This invitation was issued because the family knew that the Prime Minister and Lynch had cordial relations going back almost 40 years, despite their controversies in the eleven-year stint of Lynch on NICE Radio as the NDP Spokesperson between 2001 and 2012.
- The funeral was a national event which comprised mainly supporters of the Opposition from all over St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The bulk of the congregation was well-behaved, but a tiny minority in the back of one section of the church booed the Prime Minister. This minority did not include the constituents of Dr. Gonsalves’ North Central Windward Constituency. In the 2001, 2005, and 2010 elections, Dr. Gonsalves won his seat with 83 percent of the vote. Not even the most ambitious NDP fanatic considers that Ralph will not win by a similar size vote next time!
- For over one week the NDP spokespersons on radio in St. Vincent and the Grenadines were calling on their supporters to boo the Prime Minister at the funeral. In this they were supported by the NDP’s “internet crazies” on social media. They orchestrated, planned and executed this wholly malignant behaviour.
- Despite the threats of boos, and more, the Prime Minister went to the funeral as requested by the Lynch family.
- The Prime Minister actually spoke at the funeral, despite the boos, even though he did not deliver his short prepared tribute. The tribute was read by him later that day on radio and subsequently published in a newspaper and on the internet.
The falsehoods of George’s report on which you relied can be seen from the following:
(i) The Prime Minister was not “literally booed out of his constituency”. Indeed, in the aisle of the church, dozens of supporters hugged, kissed, and “mobbed” the Prime Minister.
(ii) The Prime Minister was not “literally surrounded by security”; and he was not “put into his car” by them. The Prime Minister actually mingled with people inside and outside the church and went into the vehicle by himself, as is normal.
(iii) The Prime Minister never sued Lynch on three times as George alleges. He sued Lynch on one occasion and obtained judgement against him and the radio station. The radio station paid the judgment debt, not Lynch. Ralph Gonsalves has stated repeatedly that he sued Lynch on that one occasion because Lynch involved Ralph’s elderly mother and young daughter in his defamatory utterances.
(iv) The Prime Minister was not “stunned by the reaction” as alleged by George. Indeed, the video footage showed the Prime Minister in a calm, dignified disposition and manner. He was an oasis of calm in a desert of unruly behaviour by a minority of persons in the church. The Prime Minister greeted, hugged, and waved to cross-sections of the congregants.
The unvarnished truth is that the opposition NDP has suffered a major political setback in its organising of the unruly, criminal conduct in the House of God and in its defence afterwards of that which cannot be defended. Actually, it is a criminal offence to disrupt a church service punishable by two years in jail. This minority of unruly NDP supporters left the church in an awful state.
The NDP leadership with their backs to the wall are busy criticising almost everybody who has denounced the unruly, disruptive behaviour in the church and the failure or refusal of opposition leader, Arnhim Eustace, to get up and seek to calm his unruly supporters who came substantially from his East Kingstown constituency.
The outspoken condemnation of the unruly, disruptive behaviour of the NDP supports has come from the following among other persons: Parnel Campbell, Q.C., member of the NDP and former Attorney General in three NDP governments; Father George, a distinguished and elderly priest in the Roman Catholic Church; Pastor Clarke of the Pentecostal Church; “Too Cool” Chris, a radio personality on Hot 97, who normally supports the NDP; and the Editor of the esteemed “Searchlight Newspaper”. Even a prospective NDP candidate, Dr. Jules Ferdinand, has labelled the unruly conduct of the minority of persons at the funeral service, as “inexcusable”. Lynch’s accomplished daughter has also expressed her disgust at this unruly minority in the church.
The NDP leadership are also criticising vehemently Sir James Mitchell, founder of the NDP and former four-term Prime Minister, for adverse comments which he made publicly in his tribute to Lynch at the funeral.
So, your report from Jerry George is largely propaganda stuffed with untruths, half-truths, and glaring factual omissions. Most of all, be assured the NDP is taking a beating on this issue. Do not allow yourself to be manipulated into turning Caribbean News Now! into an unreliable, propaganda on-line site.
Sincerely yours,
Hans King
Press Secretary to the Prime Minister
of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPlNrNLWbOQ
It is really amusing how politicians would go to the lowest of lows to prove a point. Here is Hans King/PM accepting the endorcement of TOO FOOL, oh sorry, I meant to say Too Kool Kris. This is a real good laugh for me. Too Kool is a Fool to our PM, he said so on national Radio, he said that he is a DJ who goes out of his debt, and that reading a few things on the Net don’t make you an expert. So tell us Hans/PM, is it TOO KOOL or TOO FOOL??
That is the problem with this nasty little man, whichever one of them wrote the letter. Again I very much doubt this letter was written by Hans King. The construction and terminoligy of the letter once more tells me this is a Gonsalves creation.
Now they are looking to bury Gerry George, no one may have an opinion that differs from the official line.
The official story differs greatly from that told by the majority. Even my story differs somewhat from both Gerry George and whichever fat man wrote the official version, which they are now insisting is the only version, or what?
Gerry George is a trusted scource of information so they will now need to destroy his credibility.
Hence “Jerry George, a well-known supporter of the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) and a wild, persistent critic of Ralph Gonsalves, does an immense disservice to your readers”. My opinion of Mr George is that he is a decent man who tells the truth, he is known to be truthful and factual. On the other hand Gonsalves is a self confessed liar.
So who should we believe.
HAhahahahah! Hans you are nothing else but a typical propagandist yourself. Were you at the funeral? To have the PM wrote this piece and to put your name to it is nothing new. You and the likes of communication consultant Elson Crick is accustomed to be pushed like buttons. Jerry’s response was accurate. in which constituency did the “tiny Minority” booed the PM? Yes people response was inappropriate but I understand why they behave that way and you know too. You failed to mention that EG daughter, who is married to ULP South Leeward hopeful Grenville Williams could be the reason for the “invitation to Speak” at Lynch’s the funeral”.( to put in a good gesture on Grenville behalf to the PM on the eve of the SL primary) I am sure Mr King the arrogance you have displayed in the past when your machoism was threatened shows that you don’t stick nonsense. Would you have invited the PM to speak at your Dad’s funeral if the shoe was on the other foot? Since when is Too Kool Chris an NDP supporter? Every now and then he exposes your party ills on radio, does that make him an NDP supporter? […] They were directly affected. Forget what the Roman Catholic Church said, they should not discuss breaking laws when that institution is still trying to come to grips with its dark history of abuse to young boys. If you were at the church, do you honestly believe that what Sir James said make any sense befitting the occasion? As usual you harp on trivialities. When are you going to report on the Registrar who allegedly stole monies from the state. The rape allegations looming at home and abroad against your boss, You in public wanted to kill Bryan Alexander, all the monies missing from the various government departments, the sad state of roads in the country, the high unemployment rate, the death of banana, the crime in svg, the death of tourism, zero economic growth, and I can go on and on. You write on these and remove your name from articles written by ralph.
Urlan Alexander’s comment above was found, after moderation, to contain information that was factually incorrect. We have since learnt that Mr. Campbell had lied down in front of a vehicle inside of the Central Police Station in an effort to prevent his client from being deported.
IWN
I am ashamed but most disappointed that these people were not chased out of the church or arrested. Nowhere under the sun this should have been allowed to go on. However , it is living proof for what the party we held so dear to our heart has become. A bunch of hooligans lead by a leader without skill or management abilities. It is now clear to the world that this man needs to resign immediately.
Well said!
“The Prime Minister was not literally booed out of his constituency. Indeed, in the aisle of the church, dozens of supporters hugged, kissed, and mobbed the Prime Minister.”
“The Prime Minister was not stunned by the reaction as alleged by George. Indeed, the video footage showed the Prime Minister in a calm, dignified disposition and manner.”
Let me address you by your right name because I believe that this is infact Dr. Ralph who wrote this, I saw two instances of the word “Indeed” being used, and we all know that Dr.Ralph is the person who utters this phrase the most in SVG. It’s more of a speaking habit than anything else and also the style in which the article was phrased is almost identical to Dr Ralph, anyone who has listened to him speak would figure that out.
So Dr. Ralph it seems you are milking this funeral thing for all it’s worth and this just shows how low you are willing to go. You can bray all you want,but you are going out of office and into handcuffs when the election is finished, but before that I have some questions to ask you Mr Sir.
1. […]
2. I heard you got booed at Selluche funeral too, was I also misinformed about this?
3.It is now known that a prominent ULP supporter was in the church dressed in Yellow, causing havok. Infact he was causing so much mischief in the name of the NDP that his picture was taken by the searchlight, he must have been an extra ordinary mischief maker in that church. And he told a few people at the funeral, he was paid to cause mischief in a yellow shirt by the ULP. Is that true?
4.You said you asked Lynch and Nice Radio to apologize before it went further, but Mr Douglas Defreitas, owner of BDS (Best Disco Sound), Is on record and I have the tape here of him saying that you asked for an apology along with $250,000 dollars at the same time. Is that true? and this is of personal importance to me because I helped to raise funds for the station to pay off the lawsuit of Mr Lynch. And if so that would mean that you are infact yourself spreading “untruths, half-truths, and glaring factual omissions”.
And finally, Mr Lynch came and ask you for forgiveness man to man, friend to friend and you made a mockery of him. This is not a question I have the tape and I am going to post it for all the world to hear how you dealt with Mr Lynch. A man in poor health cannot take stress, and you put the man through hell in his final years, until his demise. You are a wicked man, may your life be filled with sleepless nights for all the wickedness that you have done to my people. Smoke for smoke, fire for fire. MORE FIRE
So if you can answer these questions Dr Ralph that would be helpful, because I don’t want to go around spreading lies and half truths to if you can set me straight that would be helpful. We all know that you are the king of truth and obsess over it. Thanks again
Below is a recording of Dr Ralph Gonsalves, making a mockery of EG Lynch, the man whose funeral he was booed at. The same man who is alleged to be present at other funerals that had similar or worst unbecoming behavior, so we are starting to see a trend.
https://soundcloud.com/blane-shoy/dr-ralph-insulting-mr-lynch
I THINK WHEN HANS KING MOM GIVE THE BABYSITTER HIM TO HOLD SHE TRY TO STRETCH HIS LIMBS BY HOLDING HIM BY HIS FEET AND SHE HAPPEN TO DROP HIM ON HIS HEAD ,THATS WHY YOU GET SO MUCH STUPIDNESS FROM HIM AT TIMES.
Mourine,
People like you would have killed Rosa Parks when she refused to get up for the white man on the bus, remember that was against the Law. In your father Land India, you may have also killed Gandhi, he too broke the law. You people would want to slaughter MLK, Malcolm XX, Steve Beico and Mandela.
You all are a backward lot. The NDP never did an organized protest, do you think if they did, the PM would be able to get in the Church??
Well said Hans. Lately Caribbean News Now is evidently becoming a mouth piece for political parties in the region. In Grenada it has become the voice of the NDC and a woman who once saw herself as an avid NNP supporter.
PM Gonsalves is a good man, he stands for no nonsense and he speaks his mind. Law Enforcement in St. Vincent can easily access the video of those who disrupting the service and have them charged making an example out of them and sending a message to the others who may want to attempt the same.
As for Jerry George you must understand that he had no choice to report what and how he did. Politics puppets operate that way so you should not be surprised.
The Prime Minister was not booed out of his own constituency, however he was booed out of the church which was in his constituency. the booing affected him so much he ran right home to cry. ha ha ha ha. Stop it Allan stop laughing at Ralph Gonsalves public shame.
In other words he was booed out of the church, out of Georgetown and out of North Central Winward and come elections day the booing will continue, however this time not with the sound of the voice but with the ballot. Gonsalves will be booed right out of political office and politics only to receive the scorn of Vincentian.
North Central Windward loves our P.M… No one can nvr boo him out of his constituency. A very lil minority can boo at his presence but thats just it. NCW is his strong hold. After all thats where he was born and bread. We love him and behind him 100%
In the past, the current leader of the opposition (& lay-preacher?) pushed his wish to see a kinder and gentler society in SVG. A kinder and gentler society will require citizens to “turn the other cheek” … to forgive 70 times 7 … to seek a spirit of gentleness … to be humble …. to avoid revenge … to be anxious for nothing but be thankful when they face diverse trials … to be angry and sin not … to avoid seeking self and put others first.
In the post-discussion on what transpired at the funeral of Mr. E.G. Lynch, each debater, critic, proponent or opponent (or whoever adds to the debate) should personally consider if their ranting is fostering a kinder and gentler SVG.
May you (or rather we) consider how to love one another!
Peter binose…I read Mr lynch daughter letter and was waiting for your comment which u clearly didn’t see it fit but something from the pm you jump on it…ur a hypocrite or you have a dislike for the man
Will like to hear what you guys have to say about your opposition leader who made a cold hard lie about the letter he got from lynch saying that he was owed money by the lady, james mitchell said lynch told him its not true, and the lady herself says its not true.
Want to hear you guys sensible answers
The PM was booed in the church as far as the video shows. The entire funeral was a political circus. The mere fact that he was waving and hugging people in the isle; showed he was using the funeral for political gains. Many people wanted to take advantage of Lynchs passing and did, including his daughter. What I saw was a protest that took place in a church and Ralph was on stage.
Now the guy King is blaming everybody but his boss. Lets face it: It was the wrong move at the wrong time and it showed. Ralph didnt go there because of Lynch, or at the request of the family. He went there because Ralph wanted to score some political points and hope to appease his treatment of the decease. Now King wants to jail protesters for 2 years, so people like Lynch, would know they cant oppose the PM.
Mr. King you and Ralphs mongoose gang may soon be locking up people for ringing a bell. I predict that folks will be doing that where ever and where ever the ULP turns up.
There are some bleeding hearths calling for unity and peace. I am wondering where these people have been living for the past 10 or 11 years. Ralph created the environment that we see now. It so happens that its turning against him. This incident is not showing on the NDP radar, because no one can blame the party for Ralphs stupid and glutinous behaviour. Those protestors are not going to COME TO PAPA and if they do, they would be ringing the bell.