Choosing a government is a life-and-death decision

In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, over the years, many of the conditions and practices which make up our way of life have come easily. And because many of us were born into these preexisting conditions, we think they are free and will always be there. But that creates a potential threat; people don’t usually value, appreciate, or defend “free” things.

Voting is one such privilege we enjoy in 2025. Because something is free today, it does not mean that it was not very expensive yesterday. Every present-day voter has someone in their ancestry, such as a great-grandparent, who was never able to vote. Many of our fore-parents endured harsh living conditions by believing that their sacrifices back then would be worth it because their children’s children would inherit a better SVG.

It’s now our turn to bat. We inherited a thriving democracy from the previous generations. We must consider what state of democracy, quality of life, and prospects for future growth we are handing down to the unseen generations of Vincentians. In a sporting tournament when one team does not show up, the team that does show up is declared the winner by default. Don’t say that you are not going to vote. That is empowering a win-by-default to the incumbent government. Voting has consequences — not voting has even more consequences. For example, the prices in the supermarket are higher than ever before, yet we don’t stay home and say we are not going shopping anymore. So why do that with our voting privilege?

Electing a government is really everybody’s business because our government’s job is to make decisions on our behalf. Their decisions directly affect how — and even if — we are allowed to live. This was made clear during the pandemic when we were told that our health is a shared responsibility and frontline workers had to do their part by taking the controversial vaccine.

It is possibly the clearest manifestation yet that campaigning, voting, and governing are much more serious than wearing party colours, blowing horns, and idolising candidates on various stages across St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The prime minister made it clear that Vincentian frontline workers had no choice but to take the vaccine because the duly elected government and duly appointed Cabinet had made that decision. As a voter, do you understand that when you mark your “X”, you are in fact giving someone your permission to make a decision which can inevitably harm or kill you in the future?

Very few of us might have seen the pandemic coming, or might have been able to guess how our “duly elected government” would have responded. As we head into this week’s election, the question is who can we trust to make decisions in our best interests during the unforeseen developments in the next five years?

Governing, just like our health, is also a shared responsibility. We exercise our responsibility to help govern our country by going out and voting. It must not be bought with distribution of election-season goods or services (which as citizens we had a right to all along). As voters we must open our eyes, minds and hearts to recognise that the lives of people on the campaign stage are often different (and far better) from the lives of those of us on the ground. Are those on the campaign stage there because they want to represent and work for your betterment, or are they campaigning just because they want to keep their jobs and benefits?

Voters have a right and a responsibility to defend, protect and preserve the Vincentian democracy. A foundational part of doing this is that we must have a mindset that if we are willing to vote for a candidate or a party — we MUST also be willing to vote against them as soon as we feel they no longer (can) represent us as individuals or as a community.

It is not just about if there is a better replacement. It is about sending a message that the duly elected government must always work to not only make themselves look good but to make all the people live good and more prosperous lives. We have seen all the neighbouring islands around SVG do this at the polls.

The electorates in Barbados, Grenada and St. Lucia over the last decade have shown that they understand voters give politicians their dream jobs of becoming government ministers. These government ministers and officials then have a non-negotiable symbiotic responsibility to work to give voters and all citizens a similar dream life of more prosperity and the economic capabilities to cope with the growing costs of living. Anything less must be a revocation of voters’ support at the next election.

Politicians have been known to say that they have no permanent friends, only permanent interests. In the same way, Vincentian voters need to grow up and stop permanently supporting a political party when their individual prosperity and progress is either being neglected or sacrificed for political friendships.

By A.M. Daniel

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