St. Lucia, Dominica PMs endorse Gonsalves for 6th term

Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit and his St. Lucian counterpart, Phillip Pierre, have endorsed Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves for a sixth term as Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

Skerrit and Pierre, who, like Gonsalves, head the Labour Party in their respective countries, said Gonsalves, 79, who has been in office since March 2001, is the most suitable person to lead SVG over the next five years.

“… what … the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has done in St Vincent during his tenure as prime minister is exceptional,” Skerrit told a joint press conference with Gonsalves and Pierre in Kingstown on Wednesday.

The leaders heaped praise on Gonsalves, although their countries have citizenship by investment programmes (CBI), which Gonsalves opposes in SVG and earlier this year presented as inherently corrupt.

Further, St. Lucia maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, having continued the ties that the United Workers Party government re-established in 2007 — after a 10-year break — since their establishment in 1981.

Kingstown and Taipei have maintained unbroken ties since they were established in 1981.

On the other hand, Dominica established diplomatic relations with China in 2004, severing the ties it established with Taiwan in 1983 and has maintained cordial relations with Beijing since then.

However, Gonsalves has accused Chinese operatives of using their embassy in another Caribbean country, which he did not name, to interfere in SVG’s political affairs, amidst his repeated, unsubstantiated claims that some local media operatives are on China’s payroll.   

From ‘one-term Papa’ to ‘too long Papa’

Skerrit noted that after Gonsalves’ first term in office, people referred to him as “one-term Papa”.

“Now, it’s long-term Papa,” Gonsalves said, as Skerrit continued, “Now, it is too long Papa”, adding that people are asking for term limits.

Gonsalves interjected that had the proposed changes to the Constitution been approved in 2009, he would not have been able to run after four terms, as it would have barred him after two terms following the new constitution coming into effect.

Skerrit continued:

“So, you’re going for six terms; it’s, again, uncharted waters in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and I have no doubt that the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the voters, will continue to make a wise decision,” Skerrit said.

He said there are a number of things that Gonsalves has to continue, adding, “And I think it’s important that there’s no break. But I’m confident there’ll be no break, based on what I’m hearing on the streets in St Vincent and I’m reading, that the comrade is on course to return as prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”

Skerrit said he thinks this will be good for SVG and encouraged the young people to vote. 

“The idea of not voting, if you want life to continue better, you have to vote. You have to engage, you have to participate,” he said. 

Skerrit and Pierre visited the US$78 million new hospital under construction in Arnos Vale and the EC$700 million port in Kingstown that the government will open on Saturday.

Skerrit, who has been prime minister since 2004, said one has to take the development in SVG in the context of the challenges that the country has faced over the years, including natural hazards and the international financial crisis that began in 2008.

He said that during that period, the price of oil rose to US$130 a barrel and noted the COVID-19 pandemic.

“And, of course, all of these wars and conflicts which are having a direct impact on the way of life and the circumstance of the citizens, and, of course, the ability to government to deliver for its people to be implementing such major projects, which are in the view of many people I’ve spoken to in St Vincent and are transformative in nature.”

University graduates in every ‘cranny’

Skerrit said these are things that people should recognise, irrespective of where they stand in the political theatre.

He said there were “many doubting Thomases”, including supporters of the government, when Gonsalves announced in 2005 that he was going to build the Argyle International Airport, which opened in 2017.

He said that the terminal building now needed expanding “because it has outlived its capacity. It’s growing.

“And so, when you look at this as this port, this magnificent port. if I was Trump, I would say ‘a big, beautiful port’,” the Dominican leader said.

Skerrit noted that SVG achieved universal access to secondary education under Gonsalves’ government and university graduates are in every “cranny” of the country.

“… and every one of them, you will recognise that not only the government had a role to play in it, but the prime minister himself had a part to play in it,” Skerrit said.

“And this is a huge difference, that a prime minister can take time and to be in touch with almost every single citizen and to find a way of addressing every single citizen and every family’s challenge.

“Now you may not be able to address everyone at the same time, but we cannot discount the fact that things happen,” Skerrit said, adding that he was not talking about politics.

“I’m talking about governance and development, what the government has done under the leadership of Prime Minister Gonsalves, and when you speak about regional, international matters, Dr Gonsalves ‘ voice is always highly regarded and highly anticipated.”

He said he looks forward to working with Gonsalves over the next five years on regional and international matters, saying SVG has advanced under his leadership.

“You are well respected across the globe, and in large measure, because of the leadership and the advocacy of Prime Minister Gonsalves,” Skerrit said.

He said leadership matters, and experience is important for these times.

“You don’t want our situation of men coming to try things. There’s another time for trying. You need tried and tested leadership, not people coming to try things.”

‘buy a lotto ticket and scratch it’

Echoing an expression that Gonsalves has repeatedly used, Skerrit said that people wanting to try things should buy a lotto ticket and scratch it.

“But when you’re dealing with people’s lives and livelihoods, in this difficult time, you need tried and tested leadership and I’m not aware of anyone in St Vincent and the Grenadines who can trump Prime Minister Gonsalves’ experience and having to navigate so many challenges.”

Skerrit said he was “very impressed” with what is happening in SVG.

“It’s a very positive development. The future is bright in St Vincent and the Grenadines, notwithstanding the global challenges that we all face from time to time, and it almost looks like it’s unrelenting, the challenges you face. You deal with one issue today, next six months, something else.”

He, however, said Gonsalves’ leadership “is exceptional, the vision that he has articulated, and which is manifesting itself in every sphere of society, whether it’s in healthcare, the economy, people’s development, education, you know you can’t contest this.

“And I have not heard I have not heard of any convincing alternative…”

‘a fascinating character’

Meanwhile, Pierre, who is in his first time as prime minister, described Gonsalves as “a fascinating character.

“I’ve never understood how his brain works, and what is most significant about him is his memory,” Pierre said, adding that Gonsalves can remember the colour of socks someone wore in 1997.

“Ralph is the only man I know that can quote from the Bible to the Quran and come back to Shakespeare and end up with Derek Walcott,” he said.

He said he has been prime minister for four years and has to make time to read a book, even as Gonsalves has written 14 since becoming prime minister.

“So that alone will tell you the measure of the man,” Pierre said, adding that when he came to St. Vincent for a short time as a consultant, one could not drive around the country.

The St. Lucian leader’s comments suggested that he believed that this had changed, although it is still the case, as the ULP government did not build the cross-country road, one of the major promises it made during the campaign for the 2001 general election.

“I’m in St. Vincent and I realised really what has happened. So, all that is really due to the vision of Ralph,” Pierre said.

He said that the young politicians in Gonsalves’ cabinet and his party should note that one cannot buy or study experience in a book.

“We live in a digital age and but the experience of being there and understanding human behaviour and human nature, and that is paramount to political survival,” Pierre said.  

“And if there’s anything that Ralph has, is that understanding of people, understanding of how people will behave, and understanding that you must take nothing for granted.”