Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has said that the has not ruled out calling the next general elections, constitutionally due by December 2015, ahead of the completion of the Argyle International Airport, scheduled for mid-2015.
Gonsalves had previously said that he will not call elections before the completion of the airport, which state officials have said will be “substantially complete” by the end of this year.
But he said on Monday that if the opposition New Democratic Party “humbug me”, he would much call the elections and ask the electorate to decide who they want to finish the EC$700 million airport, which has been under construction since 2008.
Gonsalves spoke of the 2012 debate in Parliament, when the government asked lawmakers to approve borrowing EC$80 million to complete the project.
The opposition abstained from the vote.
“I asked them in the Parliament if they want me finish the airport with bottle stopper or plate money,” Gonsalves said Monday, during a ceremony where three fire trucks for the airport were officially received by the government.
“They opposed it,” he said of the borrowing. “All what you hear they talking bout now, gi’ them a change they going finish it. You think Vincentians dotish? Well, it going finish before the elections. And if they humbug me, and the way they going, I’ll call the election before it finish and leh the people decide who they wah finish it; them or me,” Gonsalves said of the airport, which has missed several completion deadlines.
“They better doh humbug me. I said before that I wouldn’t call the election before the airport done, but they getting on as though they want provoke I. And if they provoke me too much, I will call the thing and say, ‘Listen, choose who you wah finish it; De Comrade or [Leader of the Opposition Arnhim] Eustace. And if you say Eustace, I will stay up at Gorse and enjoy meself like a Rasta man up there,” Gonsalves said to laughter, as he referred to the area in which his private home is located in eastern St. Vincent.
Gonsalves said that he might even surprise his party’s general secretary, Sen. Julian Francis with the announcement of the election date.
“I’ll take the letter, handwritten, up to the GG and let him write a handwritten one with the dissolution of Parliament,” Gonsalves said.
In the lead up to the 2010 general elections, Eustace said that Gonsalves would have announced Dec. 15 as the election date for the last elections.
But Gonsalves announced the election date the following day as Dec. 13 and said he had called Eustace’s bluff.
The Office of the Prime Minister later circulated to the media a copy of Gonsalves’ election date announcement speech in which the election date was given as Dec. 15.
A photograph taken by a freelance photographer showed that Gonsalves had written the election date as “Monday December 15”. Dec. 15, 2010 was a Wednesday.
Gonsalves’ Unity Labour Party won the 2010 poll eight seats to the NDP’s seven, to secure a third consecutive term in office.
Dr Ralph do whatever you want to do it really doesn’t matter at this point you are gone either way. In case no one has ever told you before Doc you have let us down, you have let down the young people of this country. It was the young people in 2001 who were responsible for you to come to power, I should know, I was one of them. I wasn’t of voting age yet I was a teenager at the time but we campaigned for you because we thought that you were going to make a difference. Our parents and Grandparents warned Us about you but we didn’t listen and they said that you would bring SVG to it’s knees but we still didn’t listen, and we still made the mistake and put you there. My Grandfather told me that the worst thing a person can ever say is “if me bin know”, because you only say those words after you have made a mistake and if we had only known that you would have brought our country to this state we would not have put you there in the first place
I am in my 20’s now and me and my friends who voted for you then, many who have children with no jobs and who cannot see no future for their children in SVG. We are the ones who put you there and we will be the ones to remove you this election. And I want to apologize to my parents and grandparents and those who are in there graves now, that I am sorry for what we did in 2001 by unleashing such a wicked man on our country and we will get rid of him.That is a mistake that we will be paying for years to come because of all the debts we have now. You are not getting away this time Dr Ralph, SVG can do much better without you.
OWN THE JAIL
No. He will await the completion of the AIA.
Kudos to the ULP for their continued support towards the Argyle International airport.
Now you have a bunch of ‘loud mouths’talking all kind of things they have no clue of. They eventually became EXPERTS over night. I’m one of those Vincentian who’s excited to see SVG progressed. They’re not for progress. I’m proud to be a Vincentian patriot! I’m proud of the developments that is taking place around SVG.
“Finished” and “done” are not the same as operational. Since there are no First World international carriers willing to service the airport, the only flights will be by LIAT (which is redundant since it already has Arnos Vale) and occasional half empty charter flights out of Cuba and Venezuela. What a waste of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Blane enough with own the jail. These people will never see or do any jail time after they lose the up comming election, cause they will flee to a marxist country where they will enjoy the millions of dollars they stole from the people of svg and place in offshore bank accounts, and just like you, i had my doubts our pm but i thought his was a canditate for a change but wew were all fooled by his retoric and his racial insults of eustace and the people of svg….but all is not lost. at the next election, lets get together and vote him out of office, preventing him from buying more time to make his foreign born son the next dictator. By the way ur words has truly hit home. I’m sure other vincies feell the same, good piece keep up the pressure