St Vincent former Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, whose Unity Labour Party (ULP) was defeated in Thursday’s general election after 25 years in office, says the party is very much alive and that he will return to Parliament as Leader of the Opposition.
Gonsalves conceded defeat in an address on Saturday but offered no specific congratulations to the new Prime Minister Dr Godwin Friday or the New Democratic Party (NDP), which won 14 of the 15 seats in the unicameral Parliament.
He spoke in ominous terms about the new NDP administration, even as only the prime minister has been sworn in, with the Cabinet expected to be sworn in next week.
“Believe me this: at this very height of the NDP’s triumphalism, it is the moment of the start of their descent. And descend they will,” Gonsalves said.
“The unravelling usually commences imperceptibly and then becomes a flood of disarray, as the centre cannot hold and things fall apart. History and experience so teach, and in our fast-changing world, the clock of their demise is already ticking,” he said.
“I shall with dignity, duty and love assume the role of Leader of the Opposition until propitious circumstances determine otherwise,” said Gonsalves, who was Opposition Leader from 1998 to 2001.
“I have trod this road before. It is not unfamiliar to me. Please be assured that the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid; it is my lot to accept, indeed prefer, a strenuous life to one of ignoble ease. There remain in me no personal vanities or demons to overcome. I accept, after prayerful consideration, that I have been set apart and blessed for a time like this.”
He said he will convene a meeting of the collective leadership of the ULP on Sunday to receive advice on the two individuals to be appointed as senators.
Clearly, given the lopsided majority of the new regime in the Parliament, we in the Opposition will be routinely out-voted, but the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines will judge us on the basis of the quality of our work, which I assure you will be of the highest standard. And across our country, outside of Parliament, by our works you will know us even better and more assuredly,” Gonsalves said.
“Labour is very much alive. We shall rendezvous with the electorate formally again in 2030 or before, as the circumstances demand or admit.”
He said the line of march provided by the leadership of the ULP is, first, to help supporters understand “that our political setback is temporary and must be altered into a permanent advance.
“Thus, let us turn this setback into an advance,” Gonsalves said, adding that there must also be renewal.
“Renewal, rebuilding, is sweet. Indeed, it is the sweetest of life’s experiences. And within and outside the Labour family, there is abundant material, some even hidden or submerged, which is available for renewal.”