Posted by Former prime minister Sir James Mitchell has accused the man now running the country of being power hungry and urged Vincentians to think independently about the implications of a new constitution when they vote in a referendum next week.
The Unity Labour Party government of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has been pressing for voters to endorse the proposed constitution that would, among other things, allow for a switch from the London-based Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice and have a “home-grown” head of state to replace the Queen.
Sir James, 78, has joined the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) in a spirited drive to get voters to reject the document when it is put to a national vote on November 25. He said while he had no problem with the provision of a President under the new constitution, he said such an individual should be elected by the people at the polls instead of by Members of Parliament.
“So, he (Prime Minister Gonsalves) now wants us to get rid of the Queen so he could decide who could become President. My view is if we want to get a President in this country to replace the Queen, every one of you should vote who should be President in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Gonsalves has maintained that the new constitution will reduce the powers of the Prime Minister. But Sir James has also argued that Gonsalves hopes to have more power going forward.
“(Prime Minister) Ralph (Gonsalves) would like to entrench himself in power,” he charged.
“I once met him and he said to me how things going. I said ‘it’s going alright’. I said, ‘you’re trying to put pressure on me but let me give you notice, one day you’re going to be like me. You know they call me former Prime Minister. That name is waiting for you’. He said ‘not in a hurry’.
“They say they have to get rid of the Queen. I have no problem with this country becoming a Republic but I don’t want a Bolivarian Republic,” said Sir James in a barb against the country’s deepening relationship with Venezuela.
The former prime minister said people of this Eastern Caribbean nation have to seriously consider the choices they make with respect to how they vote on November 25 and how their actions on that day will affect the future of the country.
“I want those independent minded people in St Vincent and the Grenadines to think what is in their best interest,” Sir James told a public meeting of the NDP on monday night.
“This time you’re not voting for family; you’re not voting for friend…you’re voting about an idea. It is the first time you’re voting about an idea and you should treasure it and be proud that one day you could tell your grandchildren, you stopped so and so from happening in this country,” said Sir James, who ran the affairs of St Vincent and the Grenadines from 1972-1974 and again from 1984-2000.
Meantime, Sir James said he would be open to a public challenge from Gonsalves to debate both him and NDP leader Arnhim Eustace, so long as the Prime Minister approaches his officially on the matter.
“I’m no little boy with him. Let him write me a letter and tell me that he wants a debate and I will deal with him. I have nothing to lose, you know. When I finish with him, oh Lord have mercy on his soul…
“He never thought I was coming back into battle. He thought that he was going to deal with the other fellows. But I cannot allow that to happen to this land that gave me birth and I will do what I can, as I always say, to help you on the road to progress,” he told the gathering.
The proposed constitution, if endorsed by voters, will replace the existing document that has been in place since independence in 1979.
