Former East St. George MP Camillo Gonsalves says he will not use his radio appearances to foster “negativity”, saying the ruling New Democratic Party (NDP) did so while in opposition.
“I remember when this party was the governing party, I remember every day there was a fostering of negativity,” he said on the opposition Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) radio station, Star Radio, on Monday.
“They would come on the radio every day; they would argue, they would complain. They would pull down. They had other radio programmes. Remember this thing … a radio programme had something called ‘What Does Get Your Vex”, and you had to call in every day. So they’re fostering negativity,” Gonsalves said as he was guest host of the Morning Comrade programme.
“What Gets You Vex” was a programme on Hot 97FM, a privately owned urban radio station, which has not announced any alignment to any political party and has criticised both the ULP and NDP while they were in opposition and government.
Gonsalves’ comments came as he said there were many things to give thanks for, including that St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is a beautiful country with beautiful people.
“We give thanks for where we are: peaceful, loving, harmonious, and we give thanks for the giving of thanks,” he said.
“We have to, and I start in positive because I never want to come on to these radio stations just with negativity and bad-mindedness and anger, because we have to stay positive,” said Gonsalves, who was voted out of office in November, after two five-year terms as an MP.
The former finance minister said that the ULP “has to always bring a message of positivity” to the people of SVG, “even as we illustrate things that we believe are going wrong, even as we illustrate missteps that are being made in our opinion, even as we talk about what could be better, we have to remain positive.
“We have to have that positive vibration because if we don’t, we become like them, how they used to be, and how they still are,” he said and went on to speak about “What does Get Your Vex”.
The former show on Hot97 FM gave hosts and the public a platform to highlight issues or incidents they found displeasing.
“So you’re encouraged to talk about things that make you angry and make you vex and make you want to pull down. And after a while, that becomes the dominant culture,” Gonsalves said after mentioning the show.
“If all you hear is negativity, all you will be is negative — and while there’s a lot that I will talk about even today, that involves some negativity or involves some problems. I always want us to remain positive because we have to show people a positive alternative to what is going on,” Gonsalves said.
“You don’t just say, ‘Boy, everything bad, everything bad, everything terrible. What a way! Band your belly. Things are terrible.’
“If you do that, you create a cycle of negativity, and we are two great a people with too much potential to let a few setbacks turn us into negative crabs in a barrel, pulling down one another, fighting down one another, cussing one another,” he said.
“And those who are now in government spent so many years fostering negativity that even in government they remain negative because it has become their dominant culture.”
He accused the government of spending time “trying to fire people and get rid of people and pull down people and and they talk in negative terms about the potential and the future of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“ I refuse to do that. I refuse to do that, and so we are going to talk about some things that are serious things. But we are going to try to make sure that even in our seriousness, even as we illustrate some of the grave challenges that we face, we end with positivity, and we because we have begun with positivity, and so I want to say that upfront.”