By Hudson George From Caribbean News Now

It is blatantly clear for all eyes to see that St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves and controversial Grenadian journalist Hamlet Mark have a lot in common. They are doing the same kind of political meddling in the political affairs of other English-speaking Caribbean countries within the OECS region.

Just recently, Dr Gonsalves was invited to Grenada by a unrepentant faction of the former People’s Revolutionary Government, as their guest speaker for the Grenada March 13th revolution remembrance lecture. However, some months ago, Mr Mark was very active as a Caribbean journalist in St Vincent and the Grenadines general election, as a media mouthpiece for the main opposition party.

Based on the political activities of those two gentlemen’s involvement in the past three decades in Caribbean politics, it is obvious that they are willing go all out to accomplish their political wants and needs, when they are given the opportunity. In the case of Dr Gonsalves, he seems to have the notion, that he has a God-given right to lead Caribbean people with his intellectual big talk that attracts some Caribbean folks who lack rational reasoning skills because they are too lazy to read and think for themselves.

Mr Mark, on the other hand, seems to be using his media company within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) as a political business that will accept media jobs from the best paying political costumer during general elections. In other words, I can say that Mr Mark has no loyalty to any political organisation in the Eastern Caribbean. He is all about making money as a Caribbean journalist and he will work for any political party that is willing to pay him the money he wants during a general election campaign.

However, even though Dr Gonsalves and Mr Mark have a lot in common, based on their activities in Caribbean politics, they are also enemies. Dr Gonsalves almost lost his mind when he saw Mr Mark in St Vincent working as a Caribbean journalist for the main opposition party.

As a matter fact, on one occasion Mr Mark was arrested by members of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force under the orders of Dr Gonsalves himself. In the heat of the election campaign, Mr Mark was seen by Dr Gonsalves supporters as foreigner meddling in Vincentian domestic politics.

In addition, although Dr Gonsalves and his supporters were upset, with Mr Mark’s mercenary style of journalism activities on their home soil, Dr Gonsalves is also guilty of the same behaviour pattern, as he did during the Grenada revolution. It is no secret that he was a very close political friend of the late Maurice Bishop. As a matter of fact he admitted that he was an advisor to the late Grenadian leader.

Therefore, if what Dr Gonsalves is saying is correct, he was meddling in Grenadian domestic politics as an outsider too. That shows that he and Mr Mark are the same style khaki pants designed by the same tailor. And as a matter of fact, the political tailor designed Dr Gonsalves before Mr Mark.

Dr Gonsalves must remember that the Grenada People’s Revolution (PRG) was supposed to be the Grenada New Jewel Movement Revolution. It is time that we as a Grenadian people tell Dr Gonsalves that Maurice Bishop betrayed the grassroots rural Jewel Movement and created a Caribbean intellectual club with the revolution. It is time that we let him know that Caribbean intellectuals destroyed the Grenadian revolution with their big book theories that were not practical for the way the vast majority of us live.

Basically, the Grenada revolution was supposed to be the revolution of the people, for the people and by the people. However, only we as Grenadians can have a proper discussion about the revolution. We are the ones who should be asking the unrepentant faction why they stole the revolution from its grassroots base and later turned the guns on the people.

Additionally, it is a known fact that Dr Gonsalves and Grenada’s present Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell are not very close politically, in terms of sharing the same political ideology. Dr Gonsalves is still dreaming of a type of Caribbean socialism, while Dr Keith Mitchell is a practical politician. However, as some Grenadian politicians keep jockeying for political position in the last four years or so, some former members of Maurice Bishop’s PRG regime are now aligned to the Mitchell government.

However, it will be a matter of time before the Grenadian people start questioning those former PRG politicians’ real agenda, as they seek refuge inside Dr Mitchell‘s political camp. But the other funny thing is that Mr Mark is also at peace with Dr Mitchell and he no longer criticises the Grenadian leader. As a matter of fact, Mr Mark is working for the government and he is also very close to those unrepentant former PRG comrades.

In conclusion, although Dr Gonsalves keeps on preaching the same political socialist utopia as he is accustomed to do, it seems as though he is trying to play jack on both sides with Bishop’s followers and the unrepentant faction that executed Bishop. With that kind of political trickery game he is trying to play, therefore, there is a possibility that he could have some information about why Bishop abandoned the original members of the Jewel Movement, after the March 13, 1979, and why the unrepentant faction killed Bishop.

However, as Dr Gonsalves and Mr Mark continue to play their selfish political games in Caribbean countries’ politics, it is easy to see that they are selfish individuals. Dr Gonsalves likes absolute power and when he cannot get the political attention, he becomes very arrogant and disrespectful to his opponents because he thinks that he is the brightest mind in Caribbean politics.

On the other hand, Mr Mark likes money. He is unique capitalist but he portrays himself as part of the progressive movement. But the saddest thing is that both Dr Gonsalves and Mr Mark are enjoying the luxury of capitalism, while their main dream is to grab on to absolute power for themselves and their political posses.

Hudson George has a BA in Social Science from York University, Toronto, Canada. He has been writing since his early teenage years and now contributes letters and articles to a number of Caribbean newspapers

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-Commentary%3A-Dr-Ralph-Gonsalves-and-Hamlet-Mark-have-a-lot-in-common-politically-29824.html

Related story:

St Vincent opposition leader reveals defective ballotsFrom Caribbean News Now

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent — Leader of the opposition, Arnhim Eustace, has released evidence of what he claimed were defective and therefore invalid ballots cast in two constituencies in the 2015 general election in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The New Democratic Party (NDP) leader said that a space for the official mark and initials of the presiding officer appeared on the counterfoil of some of the ballots and not on the ballot itself as required by law.

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The space for the initials of the presiding officer is on the tear-off counterfoils of some ballots in the 2015 election (R), rather than on the actual ballot paper itself on which the vote is actually cast, as required by law. This contrasts to the 1994 ballot (L) where the space for the initials of the presiding officer is correctly positioned on the actual ballot paper and not on the counterfoil.

The House of Assembly Election Rules, which are subsidiary to the Representation of the People Act, set out the rules to which all election officers are subject and, under Rule 40(1)(a), at the count of the ballot, any which does not bear the official mark shall be void and not counted.

“Listen to the language. ‘Shall be void’, not ‘may’, ‘Shall be void and… not… counted,’” Eustace explained.

Eustace noted that at two polling stations in Central Leeward, presiding officers failed to put their initials and official mark on the ballots themselves.

“Let us digest that for a moment. Three hundred and twenty-one voters across two polling stations in Layou were disenfranchised. More than three hundred voters lost their vote!” he said.

The ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) led by Dr Ralph Gonsalves was returned to office for a fourth consecutive term by a one-seat majority in the December 9, 2015, general elections.

However, two NDP candidates, Ben Exeter and Lauron Baptiste, have asked the court to overturn the election results in Central Leeward and North Windward.

According to Eustace, in an affidavit filed as part of the court case in Central Leeward, Winston Gaymes, the returning officer, said that he nevertheless decided to count the invalid ballots, exercising a discretion the law does not give him.

“The Returning Officer is stating that he, charged with implementing the law as it pertains to the conduct of elections, exercised a discretion the law does not give him. He swears that he recognised that the ballots were invalid and that he chose nonetheless to count them, in clear defiance of the law!” Eustace asserted.

He cited the English case of Gunn v Sharpe in relation to a local government election in England in 1974.

“This is the defining case with respect to how the courts treat with matters affecting the quality of an election. The case is remarkably similar to ours, with the exception that ours presents a worse scenario,” Eustace noted.

In Gunn v Sharpe, some 98 out of 6,453 ballots in the election were invalid because they lacked the official mark. That amounted to 52% of only one affected polling station.

In Central Leeward, 321 out of 4,697 ballots were invalid because they lacked the official mark. That amounted to 100% of one affected polling station and 40% out of the second affected polling station, Eustace pointed out.

“The court held that disenfranchising half the voters in one polling station was such that the conduct of the election was a travesty or a sham. The court voided the election. In other words, the entire election had to be redone. All the voters in that election had to return to the polls,” he said.

Eustace noted that the court has meanwhile been asked to dismiss the election petitions because the sureties were not properly referred to when they signed as sureties.

“In other words, by reason of absolutely nothing related to the facilitation of the democratic expression of the will of the people they seek to suppress it,” he said.

IMAGE:  Opposition Leader, Arnhim Eustace

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-St-Vincent-opposition-leader-reveals-defective-ballots-29819.html