Attorney General Grenville Williams, who accepted the post knowing that it meant remaining silent in Parliament, had criticised South Leeward MP, Nigel “Nature” Stephenson, saying he only speaks about roads in the national assembly.
Williams, the ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) candidate for South Leeward, is trying to unseat Stephenson, a former teacher, who is seeking a fourth consecutive five-year term after a 505-vote win in 2020.
On Saturday, in Layou, Williams made his first major political speech since being selected as the ULP’s candidate in February, 10 years after his first bid ended with him nominating Jomo Thomas, who went on to lose to Stephenson by 118 votes.
Williams noted that the people have elected Stephenson for 15 years.
“That is like you have a child and between age 1 and the time he go to preschool, he never mind that child because he never do nothing in South Leeward,” Williams said.
“The child go to primary school, and he still didn’t mind that child. That child went to secondary school, he still didn’t mind that child. Ladies, you’re going to be with that man? You’re going to leave him because he not doing anything to help you,” Williams said.
He said he has “plenty” to talk about Stephenson but would wait until he gets to South Leeward to do so.
Williams, however, said that Stephenson arrived late for the last sitting of Parliament, “and within half an hour he was gone.
“… the rest of us there all day in the Parliament. Why? He didn’t have any roads to talk about? … Because the only thing he could talk about is roads.”
Williams also suggested that the work of an opposition MP is limited to attending Parliament.
“Listen, the man supposed to report to work one single day of the month — one single day — and the man missing in action. … Half an hour, the man came to work. I would say that’s a lazy man.
“The people of South Leeward and the people who vote for that man should be embarrassed, because we ask them to represent us in Parliament. He’s missing in action. He’s not our voice. He’s not our advocate. He’s not our champion. It is time for that man to go.”
Williams asked the audience to imagine if they would be paid if they didn’t go to work for a month.
“So, he’s being unjustly enriched, … a lazy man who not representing us in the Parliament of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It is time for South Leeward to do better. It is time for South Leeward to have a voice. It is time for South Leeward to have an advocate. It is time for South Leeward to have a champion. It is time for South Leeward to vote Labour.”
Williams said NDP will never govern St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“… because their leader, he say one thing, then Leacock get up, he say something else, then Bramble get up, he say something completely different.
“But hold on, the man in South Leeward don’t get up at all. He’s a mute. He have nothing to say. No representation. The people of South Leeward need in 2025 to vote overwhelmingly for Labour. Let me hear you say ‘Labour!’
“And in South Leeward in 2025, we are going to win with Williams.”
Williams told ULP supporters that they have to “come out in 2025 and vote with vengeance” saying they had gathered at the rally “with one mission, one goal, one aim, one vision, and that is to build a brighter future for St. Vincent with the Unity Labour Party.
“Comrades, Labour is working for you, and we must continue to work together to build a brighter St. Vincent,” he said.
Williams, a former director of the Financial Intelligence Unit and former director of the Asset Recovery Unit of the Barbados-based Regional Security System, said he is “from right among you” and has worked in the countryside and the region for more than 20 years.
“I’m not a now come, I didn’t come out of the blue. And I have been working just like Labour has been working for you,” Williams said.
“I have worked to protect this country. I have worked to protect you, and just as tonight, we could enjoy this event in a peaceful fashion, that is what we want for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
Williams said he has seen criminality destroy other nations, “but this government, this prime minister, this administration, will continue to work to keep St. Vincent and the Grenadines safe and secure.
“We are committed, comrades, to building a safer, better St. Vincent and the Grenadines for all of us and labour is working for you.”
Williams, a national scholar, said that when he graduated from the then A’Level department of the St. Vincent Grammar School, there were four Island scholarships
“I was fortunate to be a beneficiary of one of those four. You know how many island scholars and national scholarships we have now under this government? Over 110 people. This government is working for you”
He said that under the ULP administration, ordinary people can “fly”.
“You could soar like an eagle. You could be the best in this country once you work hard, once you’re disciplined, because labour is making opportunities available to all of you.”
Williams said that if people do not get a national scholarship or bursary, they can still pursue their dreams because of the government’s tuition scholarships.
I cannot wait until Grenville Williams loses!