We’ll Fix It” in Opposition, “Pay More” in Government
The financial squeeze currently felt by consumers is reaching a breaking point as the cost of living, pump prices, and utility bills climb to historic highs. With the VINLEC fuel surcharge shattering all previous records at an unprecedented 73.78 cents per kilowatt-hour, household budgets are being stretched to their absolute limits. In times of such severe economic distress, it is entirely natural for the public to look back at the explicit commitments made by those now in power.
Specifically, a retrospective analysis of Dr. Godwin Friday’s social media publication from August 2022 reveals a comprehensive six-point economic blueprint for an NDP government. This plan, proposed for a potential NDP administration, pledged immediate and extensive measures to shield families from the escalating cost of living; however, it currently stands in profound contrast to the prevailing reality.
Chief among those promises was a definitive pledge to end unlimited increases in electricity bills by placing a hard cap on the VINLEC fuel surcharge and radically improving utility efficiency.
Yet today, with Dr. Friday serving as Prime Minister, consumers are learning the hard lesson that opposition rhetoric rarely survives the reality of governing. Instead of the promised hard cap, the current administration has resorted to a fluctuating, trigger-based subsidy system tied to customs charges. VINLEC has explicitly stated that these measures are not a cap on the fuel surcharge itself, meaning the rate remains completely exposed to the volatile international oil market, leaving citizens to pay the highest utility bills in local history.
The failure to deliver a firm energy cap is indicative of a much larger problem, as the vast majority of the relief measures outlined in that economic blueprint are not delivered.
The highly publicised proposal to slash VAT from 16% to 13% and expand the list of zero-rated essential items to lower grocery bills has not materialised, leaving ordinary shoppers to absorb the full weight of inflation at the supermarket checkout. Similarly, the vow to immediately repeal the Customs Service Charge increase to lower import costs, alongside providing sweeping duty concessions for minivans, buses, and taxis, is met with silence, leaving the transportation sector and daily commuters to struggle with soaring costs at the pump without the structural support they were promised.
Ultimately, comparing the current economic landscape to Dr. Friday’s campaign platform exposes the deep divide between campaign-style promises and actual executive governance. While the pledge to put “people first, not government revenues” resonated with the public during the campaign, the lack of real-world implementation across nearly every single promised metric tells a frustrating story today.
As citizens continue to navigate a record-breaking cost of living crisis, holding the current administration accountable to the exact benchmarks it laid out on its own social media pages is both fair and necessary.