Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves used his Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) rally to celebrate its 23rd anniversary in office to urge Vincentians to return the party to office for a sixth consecutive term.
He quoted the poem “The Unfinished Revolution” at the event in Arnos Vale, on Sunday, saying each part of it is relevant as the party celebrates another year in office “and to declare that always ULP for SVG”.
“We ain’t reach Mt Zion yet right here in this earthly city called St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” Gonsalves told the crowd after he quoted the poem.
“We have some way to go. And the progress we have made can be reversed,” he said.
“There are persons who say the education revolution [is] too deep it can’t be reversed; they say the housing can’t be reversed; that the health revolution can’t be reversed; the cultural revolution can’t be reversed; the social protection revolution can’t be reversed; the sporting upliftment can’t be reversed, the good governance can’t be reversed,” Gonsalves said.
“That’s what they tell you. But I will say this to you, history has shown that empires have fallen. The Roman Empire lasted hundreds of years. Very strong, very large, it fell. The Persian Empire fell, the British Empire declined,” Gonsalves told the event.
Thousands of people attended the rally, which saw performances from Jamaican artistes, Teejay – “The Uptop Boss” and Marcia Griffiths from the Band Bob Marley and the Wailers as well as local acts, with the featured address coming from Gonsalves, the self-styled “World Boss”.
“This progress, which we have, for it to be further consolidated, you have to give the Unity Labour Party a sixth term and after that, you have to assess to give them more again,” Gonsalves said.
He said the electorate bought into “the vision and you have seen the immense progress and upliftment that the ordinary man and woman in this country that you have had.
“Is not an easy road. But I tell you that those who will struggle and those who are resilient and those who are disciplined and those who are steadfast and in solidarity with one another, as the book of John predicted and taught us, that you stay the course …”
He said that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is now assessed to be at a high level of human development,
“And then the level above that is a very high level of human development. When you get 80% out of the 100, you have to get marker.”
The prime minister said the country was “now over 77%” and “within touching distance of entering the very high level of human development”.
“I told you in 2001 that some men and women sleep to dream but De Comrade and the Unity Labour Party dream to change St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the better and that is what we have done,” he said referring to himself by his nickname and echoing a poem.
The prime minister said his critics do not remember “our legacy of underdevelopment…, they don’t remember that you are 150 square miles, a very small country with 110,000 people…
“… what we have had improved life and living over the last 23 years, it has been a marvel to people across this world.
“And we have made the improvements by maintaining freedom and democracy and transparency and accountability. … There are some people who will want that progress must mean less freedom.
“Not us. As far as we are concerned, our people in a condition of freedom will have a natural inclination to resist authority. It is in the nature of free peoples. But we have been able to explain to our people and you have accepted that what we are doing is within our hands.”
Gonsalves said freedoms have been enlarged under the ULP administration, adding that when the New Democratic Party was in office, his voice could not be heard on radio or at the community college.
“But I took to the streets. And I let people hear my voice in every single village across St. Vincent and Grenadines.”
“And one of the things that I have taught you and what you have accepted is that sometimes, despite your resistance to authority, that you know in your heart and in your mind that for us to make progress, we have to be in solidarity with one another and to work together.”
Gonsalves said that the NDP opposes every time the ULP seeks “to do something which is advancing the country”.
He said the NDP opposed “the International Airport, the education revolution, the Rabacca bridge, the modern port, the hospital, the modern medical in Georgetown.
“Whatever they are, the NDP is always there trying to create confusion and dissension.”
The prime minister, however, said his message is “to stay together in solidarity with labour.
“I want to tell you apart from our philosophy, our policies, our programmes, we have an organisation called the Unity Labour Party, which is not made up of people who are involved in transactional relationships. We share a philosophy, we share a policy, we share a programme.
“You will never see confusion inside of the Unity Labour Party. You see the confusion on the other side,” he said, noting that in 23 years, no one has resigned or been fired from Cabinet under the ULP.
“We have remained stable and progressive and forward-looking and democratic and transparent,” he said.
The prime minister listed some of the challenges that the ULP administration has faced since coming to office in March 2011, including the September 2001 terror attacks in the United States, natural hazards including hurricanes, droughts and the April 2021 eruption of La Soufriere volcano, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And through all of those things, we have brought St Vincent and the Grenadines safe,” the prime minister said.
wen some people lie down in bed dem must be does laugh dem belly full to see how black people foolish, dotish stupid. , are we being bewitched?? something is so wrong.