KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – The main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), has hinted at the possibility of filing a motion of no confidence against the government of Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves when legislators meet at their interim parliament building soon.
“Madam Speaker, the Honourable Leader of the Opposition (Dr. Godwin Friday) spoke about the fact that we have disgraced ourselves by being the only Caribbean country in which you could not move a vote of no confidence,” opposition member St. Clair Leacock told Speaker Rochelle Forde.
Last Thursday, lawmakers met specially to mark the final sitting in the 200-year-old building that housed both the Parliament and the Court.
Leacock told the Speaker, “You’re going to be tested… because we’re coming again. We’re coming again with another vote of no confidence.
“And I want to see because I believe you would not have to do like (former speaker) Jomo Thomas and take a walk to come to your senses, and you will do the right thing. I am confident in you; you will do the right thing.”
On January 31, 2018, Thomas allowed the government to amend the opposition’s motion of no confidence. In a subsequent posting on social media, Thomas, an attorney and former legislator, said he “erred” when he made that decision.
Thomas’ decision came after three hours of debate over whether the no-confidence motion should be debated.
Forde has been Speaker since November 2020, becoming the first woman to fill the post.
Parliament will now meet at a purpose-built building in Calliaqua until a permanent facility is constructed in Richmond Hill on the capital’s outskirts.
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