KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC—The main Opposition party, the New Democratic Party (NDP), says it will introduce the citizenship by investment (CBI) program if it is successful in the next general election.
Under the CBI, countries give citizenship to foreign nationals in return for their significant contributions to the country’s socio-economic development.
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has ruled out his Unity Labour Party (ULP)ever introducing the program here, saying on numerous occasions that he will not be joining other Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) like St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and St. Kitts-Nevis in selling the country’s passport.
In July last year, during an interview with the state-run Agency For Public Information (API), Gonsalves commented on the United Kingdom government’s decision to remove Dominica and Vanuatu passport holders from its list of visa-free countries due to concerns about undesirable people gaining entry to British soil using their purchased citizenship.
Gonsalves said he had initially foreseen this as an unsustainable policy to earn revenue.
“Look, those who didn’t see it and wanted to base an economic strategy on that, like the Opposition in St Vincent and the Grenadines, now get their comeuppance. The mature judgment is brought to bear when I say this is unsustainable. You can’t base your economic development on this. You can’t finance a budget on these monies,” he said.
But as he addressed last weekend’s NDP convention, Opposition and party leader Dr. Goodwin Friday told supporters that an NDP government would implement the CBI, which would be needed to fund social and economic programmes here.
“Don’t tell me we can’t do it because they’re doing it in St. Kitts, they’re doing it in Dominica, and they can do it because they have a citizenship by investment program that pays for it.”
“So, I will tell you this: Don’t let Ralph and them … tell you about you selling passports and stupidness. If I sell passports, I am selling it for you because that money is not going into your pocket,” Friday said.
“I am going to make sure that the citizenship by investment program is properly monitored, and it will be one that will meet the highest levels of scrutiny,” he said, adding that, most importantly, the CBI program will be transparent.
“No money is going in my pocket; nobody is on this side, and it is going in anybody else’s pocket.
It is going in the pocket of public servants. It’s going in the pockets of people who are on public assistance,” Friday said.
He said non-government workers and people not on public assistance will also benefit from the NDP’s policies to reduce the cost of living.
The opposition leader said an NDP administration would introduce “VAT-free shopping days” in August before schools reopen and around Christmas time.
“That is something that is going to put more money back into people’s pockets and give them a chance to be able to make ends meet,” Friday said, adding that he would not be bothered by criticism from the government that these policies cannot work.
The Opposition Leader proposed additional policies to ease the “cost-of-living crisis” here and is urging Prime Minister Gonsalves to announce them in his independence address on October 27.
“The cost-of-living crisis is something that we can bring relief to the people of this country,” he said as he proposed bonuses for public sector workers and public assistance recipients.
Friday said that an NDP administration would go further and waive interest payments on student loans until after the student graduates.
“That provides a lot of relief for parents and families who are struggling to carry the loans when the children are going to school,” he said, adding that a similar policy is in operation in St. Kitts and Nevis.
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