NEW YORK, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is urging nationals to “own the future” as St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Monday celebrates its 46th anniversary of political independence from Britain.
“My simple message to the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of our country’s reclamation of its independence on October 27, 1979, is: ‘Own the Future’”, Gonsalves said in a message to nationals in the Diaspora.
“Own the Future’ in love, in solidarity, in unity and caring, in our collective interests. Remember always an elemental truth: Of all time, only the future is ours to uplift further, or to desecrate; the present is the past; and the past possesses satisfactions and dissatisfactions, triumphs and defeats, successes and failures,” said Gonsalves, who is expected to deliver his Independence Day message at a rally in Kingston later on Monday.
“To be sure, we cannot alter the past; we must use the past and the present to uplift ourselves further in the future and avoid its desecration. These are vital considerations always, but especially so at a time when in the not-too-distant future, the people will be called upon to exercise the democratic choice in general elections to elect a government to lead us into the future”.
Gonsalves said that elections have consequences “for good or ill” and that by nothing, the future would be desecrated.
“Do everything to facilitate the uplifting of our future. So, choose wisely; take no risks; take no chances; make no gamble in these challenging times of turmoil around us generated from external forces, amidst our country’s fragilities and vulnerabilities arising from the condition of being a small-island developing state.”
Gonsalves said that since the country reclaimed independence in 1979, “the Family of Labor (the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Labor Party and the Unity Labor Party) has been in government for nearly 30 years thus far, out of the 46 years of independence and sovereign control of governance.”
He said that, during this period, the Labor administrations under the founding father Robert Milton Cato and himself have, “in communion with the people, chalked up impressive achievements in the life, living, and production of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
The prime minister said “Labor” has constituted the government in almost two-thirds of the years since independence.
“Almost everything of great value in our country has been built under the leadership of ‘Labor’ in communion with a determined, resilient, and magnificent people,” he said, stating that he has been prime minister for nearly 25 years – more than half of the country’s “independence years.”
During this time, Gonsalves said, “amazing uplifting transformations have occurred to the people’s enduring benefit.”
He said previous prime ministers, including the late Sir James Mitchell and Arnhim Eustace of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), have also made their contributions.
“Sir James, sadly, is no longer in our Earthly City, and cannot aid his successors in the NDP as he did in the previous five elections since 2001. They are on their own; the people will judge them soon, by themselves, without any crutch whatsoever.
In “Owning the Future”, he said leadership matters, adding that “elections have consequences in facilitating a further upliftment of the future or its desecration.”
Gonsalves said the leadership required must have “energy and will, vision and skill, plus the X-factor of drawing out of the people their high qualities, goodness, nobility, and solidarity, oftentimes doing so in circumstances in which the people may not as yet know that they possess such goodness, nobility, and solidarity for individual and collective advancement.
“Such a leadership must encourage, always in practical terms, the young people to soar like eagles with their wings unclipped; must assist in lifting the consciousness of our people to know and affirm that although we are not better than anyone, no one is better than us; and must seek, always, to engage the people in their acceptance that, despite their satisfactions, they ought, in solidarity, to lift their game to ensure an even better life and living,” he added.
“Only tried and tested leadership, armed with the requisite skills and possessed of a compelling developmental narrative, who have been beaten on the anvil of experience and forged in the cauldron of struggle, can assist, optimally, in continuing to achieve these mighty deeds.
“Selfish individualism must be eschewed; an uplifting social individualism, in solidarity, ought always to be promoted,” he said.
“We must develop our God-given talents and gifts; take advantage of the abundant opportunities for education, training, and work; avoid indolence and laziness; work in a disciplined and productive manner, and insist on just economic rewards for your labor; be good-neighborly, law-abiding, peaceful, caring, and God-fearing. And please take care of your family, and those who depend on you,” Gonsalves said.
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