By Dancea Lipson
Jemalie John, in his commentary, makes much of the fact that a number of fresh faces did well in the recent general election, and also that the ULP lost the popular vote.
I have just a couple of questions for Mr. John: who was victorious in the election? The ULP retained government, right? And they did so with one additional seat, right?
Secondly, has John reflected on what it takes to win five elections in a row? The compulsion to change the government becomes stronger. People naturally get tired of the same old faces, the same old government. Twenty years is a mighty long time. They want to see fresh faces; they want to give someone else a chance. Let there be change, even if only for the sake of change itself. No wonder there a number of good performances from fresh faces in both parties. And no wonder indeed that there was a diminution in the ULP’s share of the popular vote.
It had to be change itself, and a sense of giving someone else a chance. It could not have been because of the NDP’s promised programmes and policies, could it? You mean that voters were enamoured of the proposed switch from Taiwan to China? You mean that voters were thrilled at the promise of a passport-selling programme? Really? Yet these were the two major planks of the NDP’s platform — although I am advised that, befuddlingly, the word China does not appear in the party’s manifesto.
But I forget: there was the third, pre-eminent plank of the NDP’s manifesto: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. I tried, I listened, I read — yet could not find an articulation of this promise. Exactly what was the jobs plan? Where were those jobs going to come from, exactly? And how would their jobs plan differ from what the government was doing. I became none the wiser. The NDP leader came close in an interview on NICE Radio when he was asked by the interviewer about the jobs plan. He began a waffling response and then was happy to quickly move on to another subject at the instance of a caller. “Jobs, jobs, jobs”, the main policy plank of the NDP was merely a catchy, empty slogan.
So what did their supporters vote for? They voted for change, (which of course is their right and prerogative). They voted for a change of faces, of personalities; they voted to give someone else a chance –a natural human sentiment. This is why NDP won the popular vote – which, it has to be admitted, is a significant development. But it really is no surprise in the context of a fifth term election.
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If this response shows the thinking of ULP supporters, it is clear why a party that is morally, ethically, and intellectually bankrupt was able to “win” five-in-a-row!
The five in a row hand will come back to slap us in the face quicker than a bullet from a gun
It’s the people’s revolution next
The results of the November 2020 elections is a repudiation of Ralph and the ULP. The failure of the Labour party supporters to acknowledge and accept that fact is consistent with their failure to accept and acknowledge many negative facts and behaviours of the PM and the Labour party.
1) SVG is the only country in the world where the opposition cannot bring a motion of no confidence against the government. The ULP government used their one seat majority in parliament and a political buffoon of a Speaker to outlaw a fundamental implement of parliamentary democracy.
2) In the Eastern Caribbean, SVG is the only country with less than 1% economic growth for the past 5 years. SVG is the only country where people are leaving to look for jobs jobs jobs in
3) In the Eastern Caribbean, SVG is the only country where the government has been rebuked by the EC Court of Appeals for accusing the people of violating the constitution.
4) SVG is the only country in the Eastern Caribbean with a PM accused of rape by a subordinate and a member of the public service, and his Labour party had the audacity and shamelessness to hold a rape rally in his support.
Is Labour for real? Are the Labour supporters supporting what’s best for the country or just what’s best for themselves?
Five more years in poverty for many of you. This morning a man who says five in row had asked his cousin to please buy bread for him. the bread cost 2 dollars and 5 bread in the bag., he’s from the W SG area. and lives in a one room in some body down stairs, something is seriously wrong with these poor, indegent people., a study need to be done on them
Did you mean “INDIGENT”?
Dear Writer,
Kudos to you for responding to Jemalie’s “article” in the professional manner, which you did. I started to respond to it many times but realized that I couldn’t find the words to counter his bitterness and bias.
Nevertheless, you summed up some of what I wanted to say, which is sufficient for now. I may feel compelled one day to respond to his “article.”
Oh there were jobs coming my friend, lots of jobs, jobs for all our youth. But not now, that is all cancelled. Because the overseas corporations will not locate in SVG under a ULP government because of their attachment to Venezuela and Cuba. They do not trust any government that is so far left that they risk falling off the world.
You will see how SVG will regress over the next five years, how the poor hand out recipients will double.
But the very people who are currently on hand outs and hungry, no jobs, no future, voted for them, so they have got what they voted for. Take this and vote for me, against vote them out, take this won.
5 in a row? how many of the 5 are by theft and other dishonest means? what is in darkness will one day come to light. Bribery, bribery, . can’t forget the elderly lady who fell over a bank and died on her way to a party meeting where she told her daughter that money will be sharing away.