Image courtesy of Nation News

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) officially introduced its 30 candidates last night to run in the upcoming General Election against the tranquil backdrop of the Caribbean Sea, and punctuated with the songs of music from several top local artistes which culminated with the international Luciano. BU would have needed the help of Peter Wickham’s CADRES to determine who amongst the large throng gathered were present to witness the entertainment or the political offerings. The BU household noticed that the make-up of the crowd came in all shapes and sizes; we witnessed Blacks, Whites, Chinese, Guyanese, Jamaicans, lawyers, doctors, bankers, the unemployed and BLPites to name a few groups.

The huge crowd which settled in the basin of the Bay Gardens in Oistins was treated to a Cultural Extravaganza which was only dampened when the sound system failed and caused proceedings to halt for 30 minutes plus. Leader of the Opposition David Thompson later apologized to those in attendance and attributed the mishap to sabotage. He reported that wires were cut! A part of the crowd panicked soon after when some jostling occurred but calm was quickly restored.

A few of the candidates addressed the large crowd but it was the usual political rhetoric. We should mention that Denis Kelman still found the time to be a real turn-off in his delivery; his speech was too long in the context of the limited time which was allotted to others. David Thompson used the opportunity, despite the shortened time caused by the cut-wire incident, to address the issue of leadership. It appears at this early stage of the campaign that LEADERSHIP will be a key issue, and he has elected to tackle it head-on! He was deliberate to make the point that he became a member of the DLP while still a schoolboy in 1978. He had to work 8 years while in the Opposition to earn his chance to be in government – listen to David Thompson. This was obviously a swipe at Mascoll and the several former DLPites who crossed the floor familiarly known as Arthur’s politics of inclusion.

Tonight it will be the turn of the Barbados Labour Party’s in Bay Street.

P.S. How could we forget the very short video presented on two huge screens which featured a news capsule from the People News Network (PNN) which was hosted by Patrick Gollop who interviewed Clyde Mascoll played by his look alike, Malik. It was hilarious to all who witnessed it.