'YELLOW IS D CODE' IN ST. VINCENT, ST LUCIA?

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Yellow is the new code in St Vincent, after the former Opposition party secured a landslide victory against Ralph Gonsalves' Unity Labour.  Meantime, St Lucia's opposition party has also adopted what was originally the United National Congress' slogan, ahead of the island's general election scheduled for December 1st.   Rynessa Cutting has more.

Transcript

00:00After a successful Yellow is the Code campaign here in Trinidad,

00:05which saw the United National Congress return to power after a decade in opposition,

00:10St. Vincent's former opposition, the New Democratic Party, led by Goodwin Friday,

00:15secured a landslide 14-1 victory on Thursday against Ralph Gonzalez's Unity Labor Party.

00:22UNC Councillor John Michael Alibokas, also known as Malcolm Millian,

00:27took to social media to hail his, quote, political artistry, as he proclaimed that Yellow is the Code,

00:34and advised former Prime Minister Ralph Gonzalez to, quote, go under arrest as his political career is over, end quote.

00:43The post was accompanied by the following video.

00:46The leader of the pack, his name is John Michael Alibokas, otherwise known as Malcolm Millian.

00:55I'm calling them out by name, so all the Labour warriors would know them.

01:01Labour Party reaching the end of the road, know them.

01:04Yellow is the Code, know them.

01:06Malcolm Millian, along with Orlando Octave, Swappi and Cary Grant are also championing

01:11Yellow is the Code in St. Lucia,

01:14in collaboration with the opposition United Workers' Party, led by Alan Chastney.

01:19St. Lucia's elections are carded for December 1st.

01:23St. Lucia, man, sick, get him out quick, get him out quick, get him out quick, B.

01:29Yellow is the Code, yellow is the Code, yellow is the Code.

01:33Last week, audio surfaced of someone stating that they had been given a directive by the government of TNT

01:39to go to St. Vincent and St. Lucia with the Yellow is the Code campaign.

01:44However, leader of government business, Barry Padarath, has denied the claim,

01:49saying the government of Trinidad and Tobago will never attempt to influence other states' elections.

01:55We do not interfere in the elections of any sovereign nation.

02:01However, we cannot restrict our members.

02:03Now, I saw many of the Caribbean countries, their colors are pretty much the same,

02:08similar to what we have in Trinidad and Tobago in terms of representative politics, red and yellow.

02:13Yellow is the Code was something that really was catchy throughout the entire general election campaign.

02:18We have been utilizing that slogan since the local government election in 2023.

02:26So I think Mr. McAmelian has found fans throughout the Caribbean,

02:30and they thought maybe as part of their campaign it may work for them as well,

02:33but there was no mandate from anyone in the government with respect to that issue.

02:37Meantime, regional political consultant Peter Wickham says,

02:41foreign involvement and alliances are nothing new,

02:44but he warns that certain boundaries should never be crossed.

02:48I would not be entirely surprised if the yellow is the Code concept,

02:53which I know is a UNC concept, may very well have filtered over here,

02:57for reasons other than convenience, but certainly we don't have anything that we can assert.

03:01So I don't think it's improper.

03:04I think it is normal for the small region like ours,

03:08and I think what is improper for me is the hypocrisy that surrounds it,

03:13where one can criticize the other for doing something which ultimately is clearly being done.

03:20I am convinced that even if you look at the role that Anna Roberts was playing

03:25in terms of attacking the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines,

03:29which is something that has never happened before,

03:31where you have a minister attacking a head of state,

03:34that type of thing suggests a level of involvement that bothers me.

03:39On the topic of election psychology, Wickham says,

03:42while catchy refrains and slogans can propel a campaign,

03:46the will of the people will always prevail.

03:49Did it make a difference to the outcome of the election?

03:52Personally, I don't think it did.

03:54I've been on the ground and actively involved in public opinion polling

03:57in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the last 25 years,

04:00and frankly, my sense is that the writing was on the wall

04:04for the Gonzales administration quite some time ago.

04:06As to whether it can make a difference in St. Lucia,

04:08again, I'm doubting because my sense is that Prime Minister Pierre

04:13is reasonably well ahead of the Yellow Party and of Alan Chastainé,

04:18and I would be surprised if he gets a whole lot of energy out of that

04:23in this weekend of the election.

04:25Ronasa Cutting, TV6 News.

04:30Ronasa Cutting, TV6 News.

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