The NDP leadership misled its supporters

Editor: On the night of Wednesday December 14, 2005, the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) held a rally at the so-called Democrat Square in Kingstown.

Practically every platform speaker highlighted alleged electoral irregularities and promised Court challenges to overturn what the NDP called “stolen elections”. The promised election petitions to the Court have not materialized and the time for filing them has long passed. The NDP has obviously taken their supporters for a ride and have left them bitterly disappointed. {{more}}

Let us quote some of the things said by the NDP leadership at the rally on the issue of alleged election irregularities.

First, Daniel Cummings:

“The election was stolen with the appointment of Rodney Adams as Supervisor of Elections.” Cummings went on to make statements questioning the integrity to Mr. Adams, and his suitability for the post.

“………Not until justice is done will I rest. And Ralph Gonsalves could run high, he could run low, he thinks he knows about the law but wait until we meet him on even ground. Wait until, but more than that we have a moral responsibility to let the world know that Ralph Gonsalves and his government stole the elections. They thief too bad; they wicked; and they treacherous. And we will prove it; the evidence is overwhelming and we will pursue it.”

Secondly, St. Claire Leacock:

“Tonight as I address you on the electoral fraud and irregularities. I know I speak with the moral authority and the legal authority. ——- On behalf of the NDP we will not sanctify the ULP administration and we will not give them the moral authority to govern in this country because they stole the election.

—— We will in fact take them to the Court of Law.”

Thirdly, Patel Matthews:

“It doesn’t make sense for me to be grinning teeth with a bunch of crooks and thieves. ——-We are saying that the election was rigged so that the ULP could come out winners”.

Fourthly, Arnhim Eustace:

“——– It is the first time in electoral history that I feel there was a deliberate effort to steal the general elections. There were too many irregularities. You have heard from some of the candidates of some of the things that happened in their constituencies”.

“——– One of the reasons why we have to challenge the results in some constituencies is because they were not fair and we should be having our rightful place and the rightful number of seats in the Parliament of St. Vincent and the Grenadines”.

FINAL COMMENT

There is much more of the same from several other speakers at that rally. I have taken a representative sample. Accordingly, the following comments are in order:

I. Daniel Cummings’ specific references to the Supervisor of Elections and Ralph Gonsalves are clearly defamatory. Cummings may yet pay for his defamatory statements.

II. Cummings stated that he had “overwhelming evidence of the alleged election fraud and he will prove it all in Court. Why then are there no election petitions? Why then the subsequent statement on radio by St. Claire Leacock that there is insufficient evidence to ground the petitions?

III. Leacock and Matthews parroted Cummings’ line. But why are there no petitions for Central Kingstown and North Leeward?

IV. Arnhim Eustace said that his party will challenge the results in some constituencies. Such a legal challenge for a constituency can only be done by way of an election petition. Yet there has been no petition!

The people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines can now judge the folly of the opposition NDP. Unjustifiably, too, they have besmirched the good name of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and its government. Unreasonably, also, they have unfairly attacked the Election Observers from CARICOM and the Organisation of American States (OAS) for assessing the elections to be free and fair.

Glenn Jackson

Press Secretary to Prime Minister