The two political parties contesting the Nov. 27 general election on Tuesday signed a code of election conduct with the National Monitoring and Consultative Mechanism (NMCM) that includes security protection for the leader of the opposition.
Augustine Ferdinand signed on behalf of the ruling Unity Labour Party, while the chairman of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Daniel Cummings, signed on its behalf.
“The 2025 code is almost identical to the 2020 code; there are just some grammatical corrections and one or two additions, but basically the code is the general content as what went in 2020,” NMCM Coordinator Godfrey E. Samuel said at the event in Kingstown.
“I think one of the additions was to enshrine in the code for protection for the Leader of the Opposition — police protection. That was not in the 2020 code…” he said as he fielded questions from the media.
Speaking earlier, Ferdinand said the signing is an important event, noting that the NMCM is part of the Grand Beach Accord — an agreement between the NDP, the ULP and civil society in 2000 that resulted in early general elections following weeks of political unrest.
“… coming up to the election — which we know is the Nov. 27 — we as political parties come together to sign this agreement, which is more or less signalling our agreement in having peaceful and fair elections in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
Ferdinand quoted Matthew 5:9, saying, “‘Blessed are the peacemakers’, because we are the sons of God, and therefore we, in the Unity Labour Party, we continue and we believe in conducting ourselves in accordance to that scripture, making peace, ensuring peace, no mayhem, ensuring stability.”
He said the ULP will send the messages within the rank and file of its membership, “that is important during not just this exercise, but the election campaign itself, that there is peace”.
Ferdinand said elections are competitive but not divisive, adding, “and while they are competitive, we do so peacefully and in accordance to the laws of our country, which we in the Unity Labour Party subscribe to”.
He said whether or not there is a signed agreement, the ULP “… conduct ourselves in a peaceful manner, and we understand the importance of people exercising their democratic and fundamental rights in choosing the government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
“But we again emphasise that we must do it peacefully, and that is why we are here today, signing this important agreement.”
In his comments, Cummings said it required no argumentation that NDP is “committed to the cause of SVG with peace at the centre.
“We have long been calling for a kinder and a gentler society in the true meaning of that expression, and we are committed in all that we do to put this country first,” said Cummings, who will seek a fourth consecutive five-year term in office.
Cummings used the opportunity “to contrast for the general public the way this New Democratic Party functions in respect of the laws of this country”.
He said the country would recall the reaction of the ULP after the 1998 general election, when the NDP won the majority of the seats even as the majority of the votes went to the ULP.
“Compare and contrast that with the 2020 election, where we won the majority of votes and the minority of seats. We respect the rule of law and we made no attempt to disrupt our society but to work diligently to meet the requirements in the law so that we can govern this country.,” Cummings said.
He thanked the NMCM for the code of conduct and called to the attention of the public what he said was “the first infringement”.
Cummings said that two weeks ago, the NDP got approval for a series of meetings, including the NDP’s final meeting in his constituency later on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
“Yesterday, we saw the ruling party putting out an advertisement for a meeting in the identical location. That is not nice,” Cummings said.
“And I pray that those who are responsible for that will make the necessary corrections, because we have made plans a long time for this particular meeting. There can be errors, but this one is more than mind-boggling.”
Meanwhile, the President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Christian Council, Bishop Gerard County, said that the NMCM opened its office at the Methodist Church Hall building in Kingstown.
The office can be telephoned at +1784-454-5521.
“If you need to contact us on any matter, … please feel free to contact our office, and they’ll keep us up to date of what is happening, and we’ll see how we respond to different situations that are happening. Our hope, I repeat, as has been expressed here by the representatives, is for a peaceful election and the observation of the rule of law.”
With the code signed, the NMCM will begin dispatching monitors to campaign events and will also monitor the conduct of the general election.
Samuel said the campaigning monitoring is based on the code of conduct and the monitors would report any breaches to the NMCM.
“And the way we deal with it would be two ways: One is to speak to the party involved, and secondly, to make a public statement.”
It is good to have an agreement between the parties. Which includes securing for the leader of the NDP. A fair election. But what does that mean? Does that mean the security of the Ballot Boxes. So that no party can steal votes?
Given the record of the ULP in Office and the lies they have told. And given their broken promises.
Can we trust the ULP not to break this agreement?
Can this election be truly fair for both parties?