Education Minister Phillip Jackson used the biological process of vomiting as a “graphic analogy” to describe the recent election results and the removal of the previous administration, which he referred to as “ulpism”.
Speaking from the perspective of a biologist using terms of “anatomy and physiology,” Jackson made the following points regarding this metaphor:
The Cause: He equated the previous political climate and “ulpism” to “nausea” that the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines had been feeling.
The Act: Jackson described the election as the people “expelling from their system” this sickness.
He illustrated the thoroughness of their rejection of the previous government by comparing it to the physical act of inducing further vomiting to ensure sickness is gone: “you know like when you’re feeling bad and you’ve vomited right you put your finger deep down and make sure more of it comes out”.
The Result: He stated that this process allowed the people to finally get “the relief that they were looking for for a very long time”.
Jackson acknowledged the imagery was graphic but argued it was necessary to describe the “overwhelming mandate” of the people to create a space free from the “fear of political reprisals” where they no longer have to look over their shoulders.