The caller was adamant that it was the Leader of the Opposition who was behind a recent criticism of me that was carried in the political gossip column of the other publication.
He insisted that the concern about my absence from the country was consistent with laments that had emanated from the Leader of the Opposition in her tabling of a Parliamentary Question several months ago. I maintained on this occasion that it could not have been Ms. Mottley.
The temptation is great, I am aware, to direct criticisms of a party at its leader. Therefore the caller was well in order to suggest that my presence in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis over the past two weeks was of such concern to Ms. Mottley that she would have articulated this publicly and it was from there that the authors of the gossip column would have gotten the motivation to write about my working outside Barbados while retained as an advisor to the government.
It is a subject I would welcome being put under the microscope. Firstly, the facts are that I have not signed on a new client since accepting a consultancy with the government of Barbados. Indeed, I have not renewed any of the contracts that expired since January 15th, 2008. I am currently in the process of “serving out” existing contracts, with the view of working full time in Barbados in the service of my country. That is the sacrifice I am willing to make at this time.
But my insistence that it could not have been the Leader of the Opposition who “squealed on me” was predicated on the fact that sitting across the political divide from me in the court of St. Kitts these past two weeks, in clear view, was none other than the Leader of the Opposition of Barbados. Indeed, some Kittitians joked that it was a “Bajan invasion”, because Barbados born High Court Judge, Francis Belle is presiding in the matter to determine if, how and when constituency boundaries in St. Kitts and Nevis will be altered.
Onlookers understood and never questioned the presence of Justice Belle pressing or Yours Truly, whose association with the ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party dates back to 1993. However, it was mystifying to many that a sitting Leader of the Opposition and, one would assume, Prime Minister-in-Waiting of a sister island, would become so embroiled in a clearly partisan political matter, even though she would have been retained ostensibly as legal counsel.
What is even more confusing to Kittitians is that the former Prime Minister of Barbados and immediate past leader of the Barbados Labour Party, Owen Arthur, addressed the annual conference of the ruling party sometime ago and spoke glowingly of the work of that government and its esteemed leader, Dr. Denzil Douglas.
The fallout for the Barbados Labour Party from Mottley leading the charge for and on behalf of the opposition Peoples Action Movement is colossal. Still, that is a matter for Ms. Mottley and her Parliamentary colleagues to discuss and reconcile.
My interest in the matter stems from the relative silence of the Leader of the Opposition in Barbados over the past few weeks in the midst of several rather contentious issues being debated in public.
As a member of the public, I was looking forward to Ms. Mottley’s response to decisions taken at the just concluded Prime Ministerial meeting in Guyana, when the thorny issues of immigration and free movement of Caricom nationals were discussed.
Barbados and Barbadians came under heavy fire for what in the end turned out to be a misunderstanding of this country’s position and the stance it took on the matter of unregulated and undocumented migration. Prime Minister David Thompson was forced to lead the charge into Georgetown and silence the critics of this country. Just imagine how powerful the message would have been had the two principal political voices in Barbados spoken in unison.
For the first time in years, a serious deliberate attempt is being made to streamline the operations of the Barbados Water Authority and pursue a sustainable programme of water security. Rates to the customer were increased, but the central issue of water security was at the forefront of public debate. Other issues such as the start up of summer camps for 9 000 school children and final touches to Crop Over 2009 were all begging for intervention and input from the Leader of the Opposition, but what the country got was the constant serving of political trivia from two ex-DLP operatives who have now come to personify what the Barbados Labour Party of 2009 is and is about.
It is not part of my remit to advise the Barbados Labour Party on its current trajectory, but placing the party on auto pilot and in the hands of these two political personnas make absolutely no political sense. Interestingly, these said two individuals were ten years ago leading the charge for David Thompson as Leader of the Opposition against the then BLP Government. It’s anybody’s guess where their allegiance will be four years from now. Personally, I believe the BLP can do better!
I could have sat silent and permitted Ms. Mottley to be accused and blamed for criticising persons earning public funds and pursuing business interest elsewhere. But I do not believe that would have been fair to her. Definitely, not on this occasion!
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