Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, on Sunday, urged disgruntled supporters of his Unity Labour Party (ULP) to “come home”, urging them not to do like Samson and pull down “the temple” on everyone’s head.
“We cannot be defeated. A united people in solidarity under the suzerainty of Almighty God in righteousness and for goodness, we will never be defeated,” Gonsalves told party supporters at a rally in Arnos Vale to mark the party’s 22nd anniversary in office.
“What does the Lord require of us? To do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with him,” he said, quoting Scripture.
“We are not a party of anger. We are not a party of hatred. We are not a party of discord. We are a party of unity and of caring. And those who sometimes get frustrated and want to leave the family, I say come home,” Gonsalves said.
“Come home. Stay home. Let’s stick together. The journey is not over. Come home. Let’s be together. The beginning is to come home, the next is to stay together and then work together in success, in solidarity, for all our hopes and all our dreams and all that we desire in our families, in our individual lives and in our nation.”
Gonsalves, 76, is hoping to lead the ULP to a sixth consecutive term in office in general elections constitutionally due in March 2026.
He urged party supporters to “reflect carefully” with “no noise, no confusion, no badderation (big problem).
“Let’s do it in peace and harmony,” he said, adding that some party supporters complain via social media “as soon as they don’t get something…
“I am urging you to desist from doing that. There are one or two who feel in the various areas that dem ah Samson. But you know what Samson did? Is bring the temple down on everybody head, including he own.”
The prime minister said that when ULP supporters behave this way and there are general elections and “by some miracle” the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) wins, the next morning the same ULP supporters will be saying, “‘Oh god if I did know.’
“If you did know? You better know now. You better know now. You’re not a Samson. Nobody in the party is a Samson. We are brothers and sisters; we are comrades and we have to work with one another,” Gonsalves said.
“And when you get a little disappointment, do not turn it into anger. Do not turn it into vengeance. Because even when you come back home, you will have caused some damage to yourself, to your family and to the party, to people in the community. Don’t do that, please.”
In the November 2020 general elections, the NDP won the popular vote but lost one of the seven seats it held in the Parliament ahead of the polls.
Gonsalves said that he does not want “to leave an unfinished task behind” adding that he needs God’s help to ensure this.
He said that in last Tuesday’s meeting of Parliament an opposition lawmaker shouted across that Gonsalves will die in office, “meaning me — I will die in office before the next election — as though he has control over death.
“I tell him, ‘A lot of people wanted to see me in the cemetery before them and if I attend their funeral, be careful young man.
“He playing as if he’s a young man but he ain’t so young. But one thing I tell all of them, in the work which I’m going to talk to you about we’re doing, the older the fiddle the sweeter the tune.”
The prime minister said that human beings, by and large, live in a condition of permanent dissatisfaction.
“If you come from there to here and your necessary and desirable needs and wants are taken care of, when you reach here, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have some dissatisfaction still. Because you want to reach there for you and your family,” Gonsalves said.
“But you have to remember that you came from here, you reach here and you can work with the Unity Labour Party government to get you there.”
He told party supporters that they need to appreciate all the difficulties which exist in a small country like St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“And we have to work together. In order to help with that understanding, you have to reflect properly and you have to study,” he said adding that one of the of the weaknesses of the ULP is that “we haven’t put aside enough effort to carry out as deep political education that we should have done”.
He said the party spent a lot of time in government dealing with problems but not dealing enough with “the education, politically, of the people”.
He announced a Caribbean and Latin American Institute of Government and politics as the principal educational arm of the ULP.
“I will be the chairman of the board of that body and Augustine Ferdinand will be the director and we will be carrying out political education all over St. Vincent and Grenadines and on all the various media platforms so that you will have a greater understanding about how things are happening and how we are evolving. And how better days are ahead,” Gonsalves said.
Lol, if ar we celebrate rape ar we na go celebrate extreme poverty too? hope some ar yo shit down ar yo pampers.
Way dem look sharp gee ar yo cool aid water fo drink. dam dotish hungry belly black people ,
Will ye speak wickedly for God and talk deceitful for him.
Job 13 vs 7
Mr pm letting go of workers who wish not to be vaccinated..should come home????
You have put many vincy in fragile positions
After 22 years what better days could possibly be ahead Mr pm?
I have seen 22 years of this government wouldn’t mind risking 5 years of a new government
The question one should ask is are we better off today than 22 yrs ago? If ⁷in fact as has been said our PM is the best in the world then how do we stack up against other Caribbean Islands when it comes to health care ,wages ,employment and the basic rights of citizens? I think our standard of living in St Vincent has taken a nose dive under this administration. I’ve been to quite a few Caribbean islands in recent years and on average Vincy is about 15 to 20 yrs behind most of our neighboring countries. We have a leader who knows what’s best for the citizens more than the citizens themselves. Isn’t that recipe for dictatorship rule ?
Why is it that when people get upset and say how they feel you try to make them feel they are doing something wrong ? You can say anything you feel like and do anything to the people who voted for you. We voted for you you never voted for us . Do you ever listen to anyone ? Treat your supporters better !
Come home and starve with the family, they need the company in their time of hunger.