ST. VINCENT-Opposition party outlines priorities should it win the next general election.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – The main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) is promising to double public assistance, reduce the 16 per cent value-added tax (VAT) on “everyday goods” and residential electricity, while also paying a bonus salary to public servants.

In addition, the NDP is promising that within 60 days of being elected to office, it will reinstate public sector workers who were fired under the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

General elections are constitutionally due in February next year. Still, there are indications that Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, whose Unity Labor Party (ULP) is seeking a historic sixth consecutive term in office, may call the polls in November.

NDP leader Dr. Godwin Friday told a news conference that the party is launching a series of proposals “spelling out not only what we are planning to do, but when we aim to do it.

“That is, within 60 days of a New Democratic Party government, we will deliver real progress for everyone in this country,” he said, adding that the NDP is attaching timelines to its commitments because it believes in delivery and accountability.

“You heard me talk about accountability before, in the context of this present government,” Friday said, adding that an NDP government will ensure mechanisms are in place for the people to hold it accountable.

“This present government has failed on that. In the upcoming general elections, we can expect many grand promises from the ULP. They’ve done it in the past, but what we have noted about them is that most of these promises were not fulfilled,” Friday told reporters, saying “the NDP will tell it like it is, setting out what we’re going to do and when we will do it”.

Friday said the election will be about what is delivered to the people and who delivers it, and that the vote is also about who has a plan for the economy’s development and who can be trusted to provide that plan.

“As we ramp up to the election, there will be a lot of noise and fanfare, so I want to take a moment now to make my personal pledge and to state, or I should say, restate, before the noise gets too loud, the NDP’s commitment to the voters.”

Friday, who has been representing the Northern Grenadines since 2001 and who became opposition leader in 2017, said voters are aware he does not make “idle promises nor do I seek to take advantage of people by misleading them. I tell it like it is”.

He said the NDP will place the economy at the centre of everything it does “because we understand that we must have robust economic growth to deliver more and better-paid jobs as we have promised, to tackle the high cost of living, to create opportunities for young people, to invest in reliable health care and to rebuild and expand the roads and infrastructure in the country.”

During the news conference, the NDP leader presented a pledge card with his photo on one side and the four pledges that the party intends to keep within 60 days of taking office.

“These are things that are real and practical,” Friday said.

“So we are pledging to immediately make people’s lives better within 60 days of being elected,” he said, noting that an NDP government will “slash prices by cutting VAT on everyday goods and on residential electricity, your VINLEC bill;

“Two, we will provide salary bonuses to all public servants. This is designed to help address the cost-of-living crisis. And, three, double Poor Relief from EC$250 to EC$500 (One EC dollar equals 0.37 cents). Who can make ends meet and EC$250?” Friday said.

The NDP had promised since 2020 to reduce the VAT from 16 to 13 percent if elected to office, and on Friday said that the fourth pledge is to reinstate jobs and benefits lost under the ULP government’s “draconian vaccine mandate.”

Hundreds of public sector workers lost their jobs in November 2021 when the government passed a law mandating that they either take a COVID-19 jab or be deemed to have abandoned their jobs.

Friday said that the NDP intends to act on those four things within 60 days, adding, “This is not the whole five-year term of an NDP government.

“So these are practical measures, immediate measures, that will bring relief and a greater sense of prosperity to our people. We have to tackle the high cost of living. Too many families are being increasingly crushed and crippled under the yoke of ever-increasing prices.”

The Opposition Leader stated that he does his own shopping and has observed the increase in prices.

“So I experience it daily, and the government has done nothing to address it,” he said, adding, “I’m talking about staples here; ordinary folk have to buy these things.

“I ain’t talking about cream cheese and fancy items,” Friday said, adding, “and as you know, the cost of utilities has also gone up.

“This is crushing many families throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines. And everywhere I go, it is the number one thing on people’s list of things they want the government to help them with.”

He stated that the ULP government has failed to address the cost-of-living crisis.

“We in the NDP have proposed ideas such as support payments in school and the cutting of VAT to help struggling families, but the government simply has not been listening, as they live in a bubble, they’re not experiencing what ordinary folk, ordinary people in this country are experiencing.”

He told reporters that an NDP government will establish a well-regulated citizenship-by-investment (CBI) program, under which foreign investors are granted citizenship of the country in return for making a substantial investment in the island’s socio-economic development.

“It will also generate tax-free and interest-free, loan-free revenue to the government to implement these programs,” Friday said, adding, “importantly, as well, we will tackle waste and increase efficiency in government services and the delivery of government projects and return those savings to finance growth and development.”