Political and social commentator Keith Joseph has laid down a challenge to the opposition New Democratic Party to tell the public where it stands on ethics and morality.
He said in his weekly broadcast of Just Another Look:
“The average Vincentian is looking for practices that are far more ethical and moral than what obtains in the nation’s political history and dare we say, political culture.”
“Vincentians are tired of the loss of morality in our society. Vincentians are tired of witnessing the decline in ethical standards and positive values in our society”.
“So people are looking to the New Democratic Party because they want to buy into the NDP’s promotion of itself as demanding, requiring and upholding higher ethical and moral standards”.
“If you not going to be doing that, then perhaps you are just like the other guy. And perhaps, people may see you then as worse than the other guy if only because if you in opposition and you want to be behave this way, why should we give you the chance to treat us the same way the other guy is treating us”.
He argued that the party may lose the silent majority as it dances to those who wave placards. The people who wants to support the NDP “may not necessarily be on Facebook or YouTube or make calls on radio programmes”, he went on to say.
“If the New Democratic Party knows in advance of a constituency election that it does not want a particular candidate to win the contest, if the NDP knows in advance that it does not want a particular candidate to represent the party at the general elections then this should be made known at the time the individual first offers himself or herself for the contest. That’s when you do it”.
“You do not allow the process to run its course, and people invest their time and their family’s time and commit themselves to a process designed to facilitate an outcome that they deem beneficial”.
Keith Joseph further warned:
“If you know that you don’t want this type of process, tell the people upfront and avoid any sort of embarrassment to the individual, to the individual family, friends, connections etc etc and yourself as a political institution”.
“It is immoral, it is unethical, it is hypocritical and it is undemocratic for a political party to allow an individual to enter the contest and after the fact of him or her winning seeks to undermine its own claim to democracy and so discount the candidate who defeated the opponents at the party’s own political game”.
“If they do this to people within their own party, what will they do to others?”.
If it is not the case, the New Democratic Party must publicly declare its stance on ethics and morality so that the nation can be clear in its own mind as to what they’re about”.
Please Keith Joseph. The supporters make up the party. Not just their stupid constituency council who take bribes. You think the votes of the latter alone can make them win? NDP playing the fool.