Letter: The Gonsalves political dynasty
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| Published on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 |
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Dear Sir:
Looking back on Ralph Gonsalves’ ascension to power in St Vincent & the Grenadines in 2001, it is now evident that Mr Gonsalves had absolutely no intention of relinquishing that power ever during his lifetime once he had attained it. Moreover, he intended to keep it in his family, extended and otherwise as long as he had the ability to do so.
Invoking a bit of history, some of you may be familiar with the coming to power of Adolph Hitler. Until 1932 many in Berlin regarded him as a megalomaniacal clown, incapable of accomplishing very much. However, by 1933 he had cut a deal with his enemies and had become head of a coalition government; with the old man, Chancellor von Hindenburg handing over power to him, making him the de facto sole power in Germany. You may recognize a parallel here.
After failing in multiple efforts to win some recognition and a seat in parliament, Ralph persuaded the old man to give up his seat in exchange for a knighthood, thus handing him the leadership of the party and allowing him to run in his constituency, since prior to this Mr Gonsalves was unable to win in what was his natural constituency.
Beyond the leadership of his now Unity Labor Party, though, Mr Gonsalves had other ideas. Contrary to the assessments Drs K John & A. Fraser, gave about succession; Dr Ralph Gonsalves never intended succession for the likes of Drs. Slater and Thompson. His aspiration was to create a political dynasty based on blood-line that would live on long after he was gone. Everything about Gonsalves is family and his relations. His hopes, his goal and objectives are really grounded in creating that political family dynasty that he expects will self-perpetuate. In this light it is folly to hazard an explanation as to why he has increased certain allowances to the SVG representative to the UN, at a time in our history when the poor and underprivileged are suffering, many penniless and very much near starvation. To Mr Gonsalves logic is an enemy; truth and reality a menace.
Senator Leacock painted a perfectly and to the point picture in Searchlight (04/23/10) of the man Ralph Gonsalves. Indeed, he is a destroyer of things and organizations. But he is also a destroyer of people. He destroys everything and anyone, who through their own misfortunes crosses his path. In his manic search for power he has silenced most of those who would have offered sane constructive intellectual opposition or encourage productive discussions to his brutal economic policies. Instead, he would pass that responsibility on to his little “midget” whipping boys of the Peoples Movement for Change (PMC) and a few other surrogates here and there to do that for him.
For example, good men like Mike Brown led the most successful strike (arguably) ever in St Vincent & the Grenadines, has been in essence relegated to a seat in the back of the bus. Pity his voice has been silenced in order to keep the peace or at the urging of the dictator himself. Folks like the late Jim Maloney sustained mighty beatings at the hands of the police for protesting the worshipping of the late princess Margaret-in fact a woman of very questionable character. What we see in St Vincent & the Grenadines today truly cannot be what these gentlemen fought for. They were standing up for honest and fair treatment for ordinary folks, not for any particular race or family. They were demanding decent jobs for the masses, fair and living wages, a society free of victimization by government and by its appointed bullies and henchmen.
In the above referenced issue of Searchlight another associate of Mr Gonsalves chided farmers for pulling against each other in efforts to revive some semblance of the banana industry. What this individual failed to mention, however, was that his Prime Minister had already declared that agriculture was no longer a viable part of his economic program for SVG. Is he not aware of this?
Most encouraging however, is a writing by another contributor whose satirical presentation I never fail to peruse. In it he detailed the devastation sustained by Grenada in 2004 by hurricane Ivan. Five and a half years later Grenada is back on its feet, presumably more prosperous than in the years preceding the hurricane. Its agriculture is booming and so is its tourism. Will someone please explain to the PM that agriculture and tourism are not mutually exclusive? Can they both not bring about significant synergies, externalities and economies of scale and network for our economy? If I remember correctly, this gentleman is a surveyor by profession, so how can he see so clearly what the PM cannot see?
Supporters of the ULP are happy to trumpet the party’s successes hip hip hurrahing the great things that are happening at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. Unfortunately no individual had the courage to pen his or her name to the article. The cited advances are so trivial that the writer recognized that they did not deserve the boasting of a government that has been in place for nine years (News, April 30, 2010).
We hope sincerely that this dynasty is short lived, that this dictator will be soon gone. However, we cannot sit idly by believing that people are dissatisfied enough and will vote him out. There were many who thought the same in the last election. Who knows what he will pull out of his pants this time?
Dane Bowman | | | | Reads : 1311 | | | |
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