RIP Robert (Bob) Ballantyne: By Chief Strong-Blood

All around St Vincent and the Grenadines and in some parts of the diaspora, the greetings of happy independence will be extended and received by Vincentians. And many disgruntled Vincentians will participate in this pretense because it is the politically correct and expected greeting, around this time of the year. Many will extend those greetings out of tradition, without thinking about the greetings they are extending to their friend and family, while others will do so for the lack of a better greeting. We have forgotten that national independence is a period of national reflection and personal evaluation; unfortunately, most Vincentians do not take this period to reflect, but rather relish the time away from work and school. 

Some years ago, and to the dismay of a large number of people, I declared that I was ashamed to be a Vincentian and I justified my point. Unfortunately, nothing has happened or changed that can significantly affect the way I felt years ago, about the St Vincent and the Grenadines situation; and therefore, my disgust and overwhelming embarrassment has only gotten worse. 

After 16 years of governing St Vincent and the Grenadines, the chief administrative micro manager, Ralph Gonsalves and his band of little boys, have demonstrated that they do not have the intellect, innovation, creativity and general as well as the practical knowledge it takes, to manage and grow the economy of St Vincent and the Grenadines. 

This is demonstrated by the zero or deficit growth St Vincent and the Grenadines economy has experienced over the past 17 years, the involuntary tearing down of the administrative protocols, policies and custom by Ralph Gonsalves, as he gets involved in technocratic dealings he knows nothing about as well as the degeneration of the rule of law and the structure that was put in place to ensure the smooth operation of the processes that facilitate the rule of law and the equitable dispensation of justice, is given to all. 

However; under Ralph E. Gonsalves administration, there have arisen a lack of confidence of the legal system, even among the supporters of Ralph Gonsalves and the government he is currently leading. This was best expressed recently by lawyer and businesswoman Mofern Meyers and others. 

There are two irrefutable examples, which can be used to demonstrate the haphazardness of the mode of operation and don’t care attitude that Gonsalves has employed in managing the economy of St Vincent and the Grenadines: they are the cross country road, a useless project that was abandoned after a he had invested a few million dollars of state monies and which resulted in the loss of a life. 

The second indicator is the never ending Argyle International Airport. I will dare to say this: there is only one man among the whole slate of Unity Labour Party politicians who has the intellect, creativity and the innovation to being about any meaningful change in the development of St Vincent and the Grenadines. 

That man is Sobato Caesar, who has demonstrated his creativity, with his breadfruit or Vincy fired and his efforts in the ministry of agriculture even though his efforts leave much to be desired. This young man is the only person in the Ralph E. Gonsalves’ ULP government, who is making an effort on the behalf of St Vincent and the Grenadines. 

However, he will not be allowed to show his potential; because it will put upon display the high level of nepotism that is perpetrated by the corrupt Ralph E. Gonsalves and it will hamper the smooth transition of the leadership of the ULP to his incompetent son Camillo Gonsalves, who pales in quality to young Caesar in every aspect of the word. 

The St Vincent and the Grenadines parliamentary opposition failure
The St Vincent and the Grenadines parliamentary opposition is largely responsible for the terrible state of affairs the country finds itself in. For the parliamentary opposition leader, Mr Arnhim Eustace, a man whom I respect tremendously, a man whom I think has the economic and managerial knowledge and skills to develop the resources of St Vincent and the Grenadines, once given the opportunity to manage the economy. 

However, he has allowed Ralph E. Gonsalves to get away with too much big things. I will go on to say, the type of offensive techniques that Mr Eustace has employed against Ralph E. Gonsalves, although honourable, is the wrong approach that is being employed to deal with this dishonest and shameless individual that is Ralph E. Gonsalves. 

What Arnhim Eustace fails to realize is he is not dealing with a Milton Cato, or a James Mitchell, men who had some form of integrity, honest, and care about their reputation. For Ralph E. Gonsalves has done all in his power to destroy his reputation and shame his family. Mr Eustace fails to understand that he is dealing with a man with somewhat of a psychopathic personality, one who has no shame, who lacks the simple and basic skills that will allow him, to restrain himself and or control his behaviour. 

If one is going to be a successful leader, one has to be able to analyze their opponent, and put a structure in place to combat the way their opponent operates. Arnhim Eustace and his NDP fail to do this and therefore they dropped the ball on several occasions, especially, when he allowed Ralph Gonsalves to get away with public allegation brought against him by the female police officer. 

Another of the qualities of a good leader is: they must be prepare to take drastic and unpopular actions, even stepping out of their comfort zone to ensure the suffering of the people are limited; this is one of the thing Mr Eustace is not, was not prepared to do. 

As a parliamentary opposition, it is highly unlikely that you can be successful with a vote of no confidence in ousting a prime minister. The only how such a motions could ever work is if that motion came from within or was supported by the Cabinet of the government; the same with the killing of a piece of legislation that was brought by the government, unless the opposition secures the unheard of participation of a government elected politician nothing is going to happen. 

Therefore, the moving of motions or votes of no confidence by the opposition against the government and any minister especially the prime minister is just a formality that is used to give attention to a matter or that is used for the lack of viable alternative actions. 

Ralph E. Gonsalves closed down the county over a lawful act, which appeared to have had a selfish motive. Yet Mr Eustace and the NDP stood around helpless in the face of public allegations of rape and sexual assault committed by the prime minister, the man with the political authority. Even after confessing to sexually assaulting his accuser (the female police officer), when he confessed in a press conference to have been in the area at the date and time of the offence, but declared he reassuringly kissed his accuser. 

If there ever was a reason to have closed down the country is was to ensure that the prime minister, the chief authority, was brought to justice. However the NDP’s failure to match the crime with the appropriate response saw Ralph Gonsalves instructing his handpicked director of public prosecution to discontinue the case even in its private criminal capacity. As a matter of fact, Arnhim Eustace and the NDP stood by idle and left the female police officer and Margaret Parsons to fight against the unscrupulous chief politician on their own. Shameful! 

This laid back behaviour, and the lack of the ability to match the misbehaviour of Ralph Gonsalves in public office with the appropriate actions, gives Ralph Gonsalves the impression that he can do anything he wants with the resources and the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines and so he had done. It also sends the clear message to the entire population that Gonsalves and his cabinet are against the law, and they are helpless against him. 

What was amazing is that Miranda Woods, an ex-national netball player, confronted Ralph E. Gonsalves in a town hall meeting in New York City and accused him of sexually assaulting her in his office when she was 15 years old, a felony, yet after almost a year of not participating in the parliament of St Vincent and the Grenadines, the government exhausted less than half of the questions they are legally allowed to ask the government in the 31st October 2016, session of parliament. Yet, no one in the parliamentary opposition saw fit to ask Prime Minister Ralph E. Gonsalves about the public allegations that were heard live on radio around the world. 

The NDP’s callousness towards demeaning women and rape in general, which they displayed in their willingness to ignore the plight of the women who have made allegations against PM Ralph E. Gonsalves is shameful. You wonder if the opposition stance is symbolic of men who have huge skeletons in their closet and who are afraid if they take a firm stance against Gonsalves’ alleged criminal behaviours, their skeletons will be resurrected. 

The opposition seems to only quote rape statistics on radio, which is weak and shameful; their cowardly behaviour only seeks to sanction Ralph E. Gonsalves’ and alleged predatory behaviour of others against our women. When the cat refused to kill the rats, the rat will multiply and their offspring will become bold and eat the cheese, even when they are not hungry. In the same manner, when the St Vincent and the Grenadines opposition refuses to confront and match the alleged criminal behaviour of Ralph E. Gonsalves and the other members of his cabinet, then the corruption will only get worse. 

I know this article is going to ruffle a lot of feathers and cause bad feelings on both side of the political fence in St Vincent and the Grenadines, but I don’t care one bit, for my loyalty is not with a man or an organization; however my loyalty is to a bunch of just principles that don’t change; principles of equity, honesty, justice and fair treatment for all. 

I am still ashamed to be called a Vincentian and I have no reason to wish anyone a happy independence, because the reality is there is nothing to be happy about, and all who declares they are happy after honest reflection are just selfish and heartless.