The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says his government is prepared to work with whomever the citizens of Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, and Barbados elect to run the affairs of their respective countries in upcoming elections.
Grenadians voted on Tuesday, while the voters in Antigua and Barbuda will go to the polls on March 21.
However, Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has not yet named a date for the election in Barbados, where the Parliament has already been dissolved. But Stuart said the polls will be held within the 90 days as stipulated by the law.
No untoward impact
Gonsalves told a news conference he does not think the outcome of the elections in Grenada and Antigua and Barbuda would have any untoward impact on issues within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, a grouping of close economic and political union, of which Kingstown is also a member.
“All the parties are pro-integration parties. But I must say this to you, I have found that the way that both [prime ministers] Keith Mitchell [of Grenada] and Gaston Browne [of Antigua and Barbuda] handled the problems which were upon them in their respective countries and in the integration movement, they have handled them with aplomb,” Gonsalves said when asked how he thinks the outcome of those elections could affect regional issues.
“I am not endorsing. I am just being honest about what I have seen over the last few years,” Gonsalves, however said.
He said that his Unity Labor Party (ULP) has not endorsed any of the political parties vying for elections in the various jurisdictions.
Last week, former deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Rochelle Forde, a former ULP senator, delivered a speech at a rally of Nazim Burke’s opposition National Democratic Congress, which some persons interpreted as an endorsement of the party.
At the meeting, Forde brought “warm fraternal greetings from political leader, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves and all the members of the Unity Labor Party in St. Vincent.”
“They have asked me to convey all success to you at your youth rally and to let you know they are here with you in political spirit and solidarity as you get yourself ready for victory on the 13th of March 2018”.
Only head of ULP can endorse
But Gonsalves told the media, “an endorsement can only come from the political leader of the ULP and there is no endorsement from me.”
Gonsalves, who came to office in March 2001, noted that he has been Prime Minister when both major political parties in Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and Barbados have headed their respective governments.
