St. Vincent's Opposition Party Will Introduce CBI Program If It Wins Next General Election

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – The main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) says it will introduce a citizenship  by investment (CBI) program if it is successful in the next general election.

investmcrUnder the CBI, countries provide citizenship to foreign nationals in return for making a significant contribution to the socio-economic development of  the country.

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has ruled out his Unity Labour Party (ULP)ever  introducing the programme here, saying on numerous occasions that he will not be joining other Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) like St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and St. Kitts-Nevis in selling the passport of the country.

In July last year, during an interview with the state-run Agency For Public Information (API)  Gonsalves commented on the decision of the United Kingdom government to remove Dominica and Vanuatu passport holders from its list of visa-free countries due to concerns about undesirable people gaining entry to British soil using their purchased citizenship.

Gonsalves said he had foreseen this as an unsustainable policy to earn revenue from the beginning.

“Look, those who didn’t see it, and who wanted to base an economic strategy on that, like the opposition in St Vincent and the Grenadines, they now get their comeuppance. Mature judgment brought to bear when I say this thing is not sustainable. You can’t base your economic development on this. You can’t finance a budget on these kinds of monies,” he said.

But as he addressed las weekend’s NDP convention, Opposition and party leader,  Dr.  Goodwin Friday told supporters, an NDP government would implement the CBI, which would be needed to  fund social and economic programme here.

“Don’t tell me we can’t do it because they’re doing it in St. Kitts, they’re doing it in Dominica, and the reason they can do it is because they have a citizenship by investment programme that pays for it.”

“So, I will tell you this: Don’t let Ralph and them … tell you about you selling passports and stupidness. If I selling passports, I selling it for you because that money is not going in your pocket,” Friday said.

“I am going to make sure that the citizenship by investment programme is properly monitored, and it will be one that will meet the highest levels of scrutiny,” he said, adding that, most  importantly, the CBI programme will be transparent.

“… no money, going in my pocket, nobody on this side, it going in anybody else pocket.

It going in the pocket of public servants. It’s going in the pockets of people who are on public assistance,” Friday said.

He said non-government workers and people who are not on public assistance will also benefit from the NDP’s policies to reduce the cost of living.

The opposition leader said an NDP administration would introduce “VAT-free shopping days” in August before schools reopen and around Christmas time.

“That is something that is going to put more money back into people’s pockets and give them a chance to be able to make ends meet,” Friday said, adding that he would not be bothered by criticism from the government that these policies cannot work.

The Opposition Leader proposed additional policies to ease the “cost-of-living crisis” here and is urging Prime Minister Gonsalves to announce them in his independence address on October 27.

“The cost-of-living crisis is something that we can bring relief to the people of this country,” he said as he proposed bonuses for public sector workers and public assistance recipients.

Friday said that an NDP administration would go further and waive interest payments on student loans until after the student graduates.

“That provides a lot of relief for parents and families who are struggling to carry the loans when the children are going to school,” he said, adding that a similar policy is in operation in St. Kitts and Nevis.