The phones were ringing off the hook and the text messages were coming through in a flurry. “Hartley your girl Mia is on your case in the House of Assembly”. “Boy, Mia putting some blows in you”. “Mia biting out your throat in the House” They all used different words, but said effectively the same thing; that the Leader of the Opposition was up to her customary ‘Hartley bashing’ antics. I then queried “what exactly is she saying?”
“Man she putting licks pon you and the Prime Minister. She even attacked Leroy Parris of Clico and Arni Walters at the BWA”
“But what exactly did she say?” “Man I dint really listening to she too much, but I hear she putting some blows pon you.”
Well, out of curiosity, I called and text a few individuals who I know, as a rule, follow the debates in parliament. I made contact with about 16 persons and of that grouping, only 11 were actually listening. Almost to the last man or woman, their initial response was “boy, she just put some licks pon you”.
So exactly what did she say? ‘Well, she was talking about you and the PM and other people and she put some licks pon you.” Okay, as no one could tell me exactly what the Leader of the Opposition had said about me, I then broadened the question by asking ‘so what else did she say in her speech? What did she talk about?’
“Man, she talk for long, long; almost half of the day”. “She aint say nothing new”. “She talked about how bad things are and how worse they gine get”. “She said we in for tougher times. She said wunnuh guys mashed up the country”. “She said poor people catching hell”.
These were general responses to the query of what the Leader of the Opposition said in her near five hour speech at the opening of the estimates debate. But, try as hard as I could, I couldn’t get anyone to give me specifics about the issues and initiatives outlined in the presentation of the Leader of the Opposition.
One old lady called to say ‘boy I was just listening to Mia and she getting on bad enough. She sounding angry and shouting hard, hard. Tell her to be careful she doesn’t burst a blood vessel”. Okay, I said, but what exactly was she talking about? “Child I couldn’t really follow, because she was sounding so angry, I stop listening. But I hear she criticizing the Prime Minister over and over”. And what else did she say? “Nothing really. She was merely criticizing the government and saying how bad things are since the change.” That is all she said for four and a half hours? “Yes, she cursed plenty people but didn’t really say anything new. “
Well, I said to myself, perhaps these are all supporters and well wishers of the government and were therefore not being objective in their analyses. So, I called a former Barbados Labour Party Member of Parliament, who, though not very active in politics today, is still very much wedded to Roebuck Street.
“Boy, to tell the truth, I was listening but nothing really stuck on me. She was putting some lashes in you fellows but other than that there really wasn’t anything new that was said.”
You can’t be serious! She spoke for nearly five hours and didn’t say anything profound or beneficial to the state of play in the country today?
“To tell you the truth, I did not hear anything that I had not heard before. She put some licks in you and a few others but generally it was the same line of attack she has been using from day one”.
Then, totally unsolicited, he went on to volunteer the following, as if to make sure that I knew where he stood: “I am really looking forward to hearing Owen tomorrow, cause he is the man that I know will take the fight to Thompson. Mia is alright, but Owen is the man you guys got to watch”. What do you mean by that? “Owen coming back; mark my words. The Labour Party going into the next election with Owen as Leader. If they don’t, they’re in trouble. I know you guys want Mia, but you better prepare yourselves for Owen.”
This information was totally unsolicited, but somehow this BLP stalwart wanted me to know. He wasn’t hot on promoting or defending Mia, but he made clear in whose corner he would be standing whenever the ‘battle royale’ begins.
But, leadership of the Barbados Labour Party was not my focus on this occasion. I wanted to know what the Leader of the Opposition said in her four and a half hour speech in Parliament. No one I spoke to, including known BLP supporters, could tell me definitively what Mia Mottley had said, other than that she had attacked a range of persons, including myself, and that she was angry.
Persons look to Parliamentarians for many things, but I am not sure that to the Leader of the Opposition in particular, they look for personal attacks and a venomous display of anger.
Twenty four hours after her major annual speech in Parliament, I am still at a loss to discover from anyone who heard the presentation, what of national relevance and significance did the Leader of the Opposition say.
Communication is message delivered, message received, message interpreted. I am not sure what message was delivered but that which was received and interpreted by many, suggested yet another wasted opportunity to portray oneself as Prime Ministerial material.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.