The Seventy-Fifth Sitting of the House of Assembly of Barbados will be remembered for the heartrending tributes which the Late Prime Minister Prime Minister David Thompson elicited from his former parliamentary colleagues. Hansard will record that the business of the House of Assemble was set aside for the sole purpose of receiving tributes from Members of Parliament as well as the public.
As if wanting to court controversy while delivering his tribute the Leader of the Opposition Owen Arthur appeared to be alone by forgetting what is the definition of tribute – ‘a gift, payment, declaration, or other acknowledgment of gratitude, respect, or admiration’. Why would he have used the occasion to mention Thompson’s IMF letter waving incident in Queen’s Park of 1994? We are left to wonder if this was a deliberate political ploy to taint Hansard with that dark moment in the political life of David Thompson.
It is BU’s understanding the widow and her three children were present at today’s sitting. Is it is accepted custom when paying tribute to a fallen colleague to recall those memories which place the recipient in a positive light? The presence of Mara Thompson and her children should have reminded Arthur of the need to be civil in the circumstances. Mention of Thompson’s political missteps only served to make his ‘tribute’ disingenuous. It will be interesting to review the critique of Arthur’s ‘tribute’ in the local media.
Seemingly provoked by Arthur and a blog posted on BU a few days ago, Minister Ronald Jones used the opportunity to share some treasured memories of his association with Thompson while also sharing some political licks in Thompson’s political nemesis Clyde Mascoll. If one is to believe Jones it appears Clyde Mascoll was not respected by the majority of his parliamentary colleagues in the period leading up to when he was dumped for Thompson. In an impassioned delivery Jones demonstrated disdain at the memory of Mascoll’s contempt at the request to meet with his then parliamentary colleagues. Perhaps one day soon the public of Barbados will be given the facts of what transpired during that turbulent period in Democratic Labour Party politics.
The approach by the government of building out a society of which the economy is a part appear to contrast sharply with Arthur’s approach of focussing almost solely on the economy. The insensitive and ruthless manner he and his five colleagues have usurped Mottley, handled the appointment of replacement Senators have signalled a return to a ruthless kind of politics which has been missing for the past 33 months. It appears Arthur is on a quest to dismantle the Mottley stamp in the party while humiliating her in the process.
Research has shown that blogs given their design can be used as an accurate measure of public opinion. Given the recent political fissures which have affected both political parties, the political landscape appears to be pregnant with intrigue. Under normal circumstances one could have expected that in a severe recession the government would have been looking down the barrel of a gun with a general election on the horizon. Recent events within the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) appear to have contrived to give the government some trump cards. Let us see how Prime Minister Stuart play the hand.
