A quick thought on the New Democratic Party (NDP).
That party lost the general election of 2001 and has lost every election since. Granted, they have increased their share of the seats and even increased the share of the votes, and in the case of the last election commands the popular vote.
However, when I look at the make-up of the NDP it really hasn’t changed much. They will go into the next general election offering us. generally speaking, the same group of candidates they have put up for the last three or so elections. In that sense, they have not shown any progress as afar as attracting new faces is concerned.
Dr. Friday, it seems, has been around for as long as we can remember, yet it has taken the last two or so years for him to realise that he needed to get himself out there and sell himself as a national leader.
The trouble is, he is doing it all by himself. If I am to be honest, he doesn’t not possess the character and political punch like Dr. Gonsalves and therefore cannot win any election for his party. The question are: Can he help the party regain the North Leeward seat? Can he help win the West St. George and East St. George seats for the party? And What of North Windward?
The NDP has another chance to return to government. The question is, can they make use of it?
Elliot