Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart is expected to announce the DLP candidate for St. John any day now. There is speculation that the wife of the late Prime Minister David Thompson is favoured to win the nomination.
Updated:Selecting The Best Candidate For St. John
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I don’t think Mara Thompson should contest the seat because I think she is a weak candidate. Yes, she may be popular in St.John, but can she reaaly dig deep when the DLP is not riding high and only the favored seats have been elected? Can she go out there in the field and help marginal candidate to get votes? Does she have senior leadership qualities? If someone without these qualities is given the staunch DLP St.John’s seat, it will weaken the base of the DLP’s camp. I also think P.M. Stuart is making a mistake by delaying the announcement of the date fot the by-election.
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Where are all the anti-immigrant, anti-CSME, Barbados being taken over by foreigners etc etc supporters?
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Behind every good man there is a woman! Put a woman in front! Punto Finale!What happen to all this talk bout unity is strength?Mara Thompson should not be taken for a ‘fanny’.It would be very interesting to count the amount of foreign women who stood behind their men!
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Albert does a good job analysing PM Stuart’s options in todays press.
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Looks as if a Mara anointment is not necessarily a fait accompli as It seems unlikely that they would subject her to having to present in competition with the other 12 would be hopefuls. But who knows what decision the enigmatic Stuart will make? We only know that it will be a late one, albiet ponderously and painstakingly made.
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Having not just chosen Mrs Mara Thompson as the St. John’s candidate, which I figured is the right thing to do, it is now almost sure that she will not be THE CANDIDATE. Therefore, P.M Stuart is faced with a problem, there are a number of hopefuls wqho think they should be THE ONE, it is now up to P.M Stuart to get those who didn’t get the nod to rally around the one chosen and he has a short time to do that. The late David Thompson did not die suddenly, therefore the DLP should not be in this position now trying to find a candidate at this late stage. This shows the unsure attitude of the present P.M, if he continues in this vein, he is opening the doors for the BLP resurgance.
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The Scout;
Barbados Today has an article that suggests that Mara Thompson is the front runner for selection as the candidate. If that is indeed so and she won’t be here for the sunday face-off between the candidates (which is suggested in the article) It might be difficult to convince the losers to rally around her. Not that it is terribly important since it is very likely that she will win handsomely anyhow.
The problem for Stuart is the impression that is now being given to his colleagues and to the nation about his ability to lead the party in contesting a simple by-election and how that translates into how he is likely to handle a general election in the future.
If Mara is chosen it will be very interesting to see how much she wins by. Will she increase David’s plurality? Will she lose a significant number of votes? If so could those lost votes be traced to BLP increases or just to losses due to perceptions of the possible missteps in the handling of the by-election? Will the results suggest that there could be a resurgence of the BLP?
This by-election could be a good bell wether of the general election in 2 years time.
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I am somewhat surprised that there has been practically no discussion of the imminent St John bye-election. Below is an article from Barbados Today online that makes a number of discussion worthy points.
By-election time
2010-12-28
law requires writ issued by friday
by Donna SealyThe St. John by-election bell is expected to be rung this week.
Barbados TODAY spoke to several current and former electoral officials who all calculated that based on the island’s electoral laws, the writ necessary for the poll to take place must be issued no later than Friday.
Chief Electoral Officer Angela Taylor said via telephone that the written command to be issued by the Governor General had to be made this week, but declined comment on the state of preparation of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission for the by-election, stating that there was not much she could say until that took place.
Former chairman of the EBC Philip Serrao, who was chairman until after the 2008 General Election, said there were “a lot of things to be done” and officials were “cutting it close” in terms of issuance of the writ.
He explained both the Constitutional and legal aspects of the process, quoting from the Representation of the People Act, and noted that the 90 day limit within which the seat had to be filled would expire on January 20.
The Constitution states that “whenever any person vacates his seat as a member of the House of Assembly for any reason other than a dissolution of Parliament the Governor General shall issue a writ for the election of a member to fill the vacancy returnable within 90 days from the occurrence of the vacancy”.
The seat was made vacant when St. John MP and Prime Minister David Thompson died on October 23.
Serrao also noted that Section 18 of the act states that a register of electors must be published no later than 21 days after the issuing of the writ, which Governor General Sir Clifford Husbands had to do. Section 36 of the same act states that the document must state the Nomination and Election days, which the Returning Officers for the Constituency then had to publish.
The former chairman also said that based on time remaining, the writ could be issued between tomorrow and Friday, which meant Nomination Day could be no later than January 5 and the actual poll date no more than 15 days later – January 20.
And the scene is set for a ding-dong battle in the Democratic Labour Party’s camp as 11 people to date are making a bid to carry their flag.
They include Consul-General to Toronto, Leroy McClean, who told Barbados TODAY he would be arriving in Barbados on Air Canada tomorrow, chartered accountant Peter Carter, businessman Renaldo White, outspoken principal Matthew Farley, Senator Jepter Ince, former candidate Herman Lowe, businessman Dale Lashley, Anthony Walrond, Troy White, Evans Maughn and David Gittens.
Although DLP opereatives were “officially” still mum on whether Thompon’s widow Mara Thompson would be contesting the seat, sources said she was poised to do so and repeated that there was already a groundswell of support for her, and there was every likelihood she would carry the party’s banner.
Thompson and her children spent the Christmas holidays in St. Lucia with her family and they are expected to return to Barbados early next week.
The ruling party has already put their election machinery into gear and on Sunday all those seeking the nod are expected to meet at the St. John’s Parish Church Hall to state their intentions.
The Barbados Labour Party’s candidate Hudson Griffith was formally nominated on December 5. Since then he has been walking the constituency meeting residents in the rural riding, he said.
donnasealy@barbadostoday.bb -
@checkit-out
What can be said is that this is a DLP safe seat.
The BLP however needs to use the opportunity to raise issues to position for the next general election.
Barbadians will take the opportunity to observe the interplay between the Mottley and Arthur factions.
BTW, wither Henderson Bovell and Sylvan Greenidge?
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Nomination Day is January 5th.
Election Day is January 20th. -
David
While bajans will watch carefully the role played by Arthur and Mottley, Bovell and Greenidge, the voters is also looking down at the next general elections and this by-elections is a preface of the general. Right now P.M Stuart is acting too reserved and seem afraid to made decisions, for example, no cabinet reshuffle even though he has the lightest load inherited from the late P.M, no Deputy P.M after almost three months in office, now scrambling at the last minute to find a candidate for St. John. Unless P.M Stuart gets positive about his role as P.M, he can cause the DLP to lose many seats in the general. -
David re your post of December 29, 2010 at 4:37 PM;
I totally agree that this is a DLP safe seat. I also think that the DLP is taking the St John electorate for granted but there is no chance of a rude awakening for them whoever is the candidate. It will be interesting to see if there is any fallout when the official candidate is announced.
I think that the BLP’s strategy is a very strange one also. They have been too low keyed so far, imho. The media should have been alight with their take on the various issues that Thompson and Stuart have left on the back burner for the last year or so and especially on the fallout of the Sinckler Budget. Indeed I can’t understand why they have been silent on the current hot button issues such as the installation of a new CJ; the Ishmael/Sparman/Inniss debacle and how it has been handled; Stuart’s leadership style; CLICO being put under judicial management after the horse has left the stable; etc. etc.
They seem to be treating this by-election as a typical St John one without grasping the opportunities to ventilate National concerns aimed directly at General Elections in 2 years time, or earlier, as if Stuart continues to be so uninspiring in leadership it would not surprise me if there were serious challenges for the PM position and changed leadership in the DLP going into a General election.
The problems in the BLP camp partially explain the apparent silence but the DLP’s strategy or lack thereof for the management of the St John Campaign was begging for National opposition treatment. I wonder what is happening with Owen Arthur. The Christmas greetings from him was probably even less inspiring than the one from the PM. It will be interesting to see what happens from now on and even moreso when the DLP candidate is announced.
Re. Henderson Bovell and Sylvan Greenidge. I don’t know the men and my info on things political here comes almost exclusively from the blogs and the online papers with an occasional sight of the Nation paper.
I presume that they are probably looking for new avenues of employment since Arthur took over the reins of the LOO. In any case the usual BLP voices on this blog seems to have been strangely muted recently even while there was excellent grist for their mills.
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David any possibility of this thread being placed higher up?
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Check it out, which XMAS greeting did you hear from the PM? Would you call the one that we heard and saw on television anything near inspiring. Was his attack on Bajan men appropriate in a XMAS message and his first major public appearance? What it the kind of stuff you expect from a real politician. Not even the Bishop, Dr. John Holder was so holier than you in his XMAS message! As for the former PM, Arthur coming after Mr. Stuart made him look fresh and inspiring. Take off your blinkers! His message was appropriate for the occasion….he is a master politician.
And what is all this nonsense about the BLP’s silence. Be sensible! Don’t you think it is smarter to wait until the bye-election. Have patience! What looks stupid is the long wait for the DLP to name a candidate and have a dozen people fighting to get the nomination while the BLP is out there working on the ground with one candidate. -
Jenny M; Read my post again after you have cooled down.
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Don’t worry folks, Mara will be the candidate and she will go on to win the seat handsomely.
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I wonder if Mr F. Stuart is comfortable with the view that history may record him as the man that placed the D.L.P. at the service of the Thompson family and not the other way around. While there is nothing against Mrs Thompson in her personal capacity, I cannot help but wonder if the enormously outstanding record of 55 years of hard work by many, many patriotic members of the D.L.P. in building the party and ultimately the country is now being subsumed in the elevation of the Thompson family to dynastic proportions akin to the Gandhi’s of India.
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Ping-Pong;
My sentiments exactly -
Ping-Pong;
Testing!! My sentiments exactly -
Ping Pong
Food for thought on that.
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Ping Pong
I concur.
While I have nothing against the Thompson family why is it that if the second daughter is interested in politics her mother has to keep the seat warm until is is ready for elective politics. St John is not the only constituency; she can run for any other constituencywhen the time is right. -
Initially I was supporting Mara , however on reflection why put a weak candidate in a safe seat because when general election time comes she will not be able to help those candidates in marginal seats. I maintain the person running in St John should be a crowd puller and very strong in order to help the party in other constituencies.
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On what basis have some determined that Mara is a weak candidate?
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David;
re your 1:28 comment / question;
The real point is that Mara is an unknown factor re. her political strengths. She has operated so far in a most commendable and supportive manner as the wife of a political animal. Most people in Barbados don’t know her outside of that role. I suspect that the feeling that she is a weak candidate might derive from the way that the new PM and the DLP hierarchy is handling the matter of the election.
If she was a strong candidate there would be no need to hide her from the electorate, outside of house to house campaigning, by ensuring that her choice as the candidate is delayed to the last moment and that there is the minimum time period alloted for her to make mistakes and for the opposition to show up her weak points.
Indeed, the only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from the way in which the candidate selection and timing of the election has been handled is that she is indeed a weak candidate, albiet an acknowledged good person.
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It was my hope that as Barbados matured politically that we would see the ascension of the politics of Principles over the politics of Personalities. I believe that Barbados has done well because there was an unspoken and unwritten consensus to adhere to the principles of good governance, to be guided by well thought out and transparent policies, by institutional strengthening and continuity and to eschew the cult of personality and demagoguery.
The Moses of early Barbadian politics, the Right Excellent G.H. Adams was retired to the fringes when he was seen as opposing the young turks of the 1950s and 60s who had a vision of an independent Barbados with an economy that was more that a plantation. No less a person than the Right Excellent E.W.Barrow was sent out of power when it was believed that he was exhausted and losing his way. Tom Adams for all his administrative brilliance and visionary policies was heading to possible electoral defeat but for his unexpected death. The point is that the great leaders of the past with outstanding records of achievement were politely and honorably retired when it was clear that each had completed their mission. Along with each of them were men and women of many talents who earned the respect of Barbadians through hard work and consistent contribution to public life. I well remember Mr Barrow deprecating the behaviour of a member of the party who was deemed to have been disrespectful to a committee of the DLP with the words “No-one is bigger than the party!”
I thus find it a sad irony that Mr F. Stuart who has cultivated an image of philosophical rectitude should be the mid-wife to a cult of personality in contradiction to his own long history (as well as the history of comrades) of disciplined, loyal and hard working association with the D.L.P.
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No doubt GP will be backing Doc Leroy McClean who is reported to have arrived on island today.
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The Opposition is doing a brilliant job re – the QEH fiasco. Sometimes it is good to let civil society be the ‘opposition’, in so doing it absolves the official opposition from being accused of politicising issues. No need to get involved now, the by-election will provide the right platform. In the meantime BAMP, BU etc continue playing your part in good governance.
@ Carson Cadogan
The DLP could put a crapaud to run and the seat would be safe. -
David; I forgot to add above; If Stuart indeed selects Mara to be the St. John candidate it would automatically suggest that the rumour about David Thompson’s deathbed speech is probably true. There would be no other overarching reason for choosing Mara.
If so, David Thompson, himself, would have been shown to have been the one who would have conceptualised and engineered the moves toward dynasty building.
If that is so also, then a number of other characteristics of the late David Thompson would seem to be on the table for discussion. e.g.;
His apparent and avowed love for power at the PM level. It could be argued that, even on his deathbed, he wanted to see a part of himself retaining that position through his daughter.
It would also explain part of the reason why a dying man would do everything to retain power to the bitter end. Indeed, it would suggest almost unequivocally that the strange management of disclosure of the extent of his sickness derived from him and him alone. HH would have merely carried out his wishes. It would partially explain why he held that last cabinet meeting to map out the methodology for bailing out CLICO. Putting a plaster on CLICO would have been of such importance to his plans for his future dynasty that other considerations were put on the back burner.
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St John deserves whatever the DLP hierarchy throws at them.
Can you believe that the PM had from Nov 4 to name a candidate and he “hem and hawed” for all this time as if he was waiting to see for sure that David Thompson was NOT coming back. Then December came and he could not announce a date during December having lambasted Owen Arthur for so doing in 2007. With his back to the wall and with everybody I know having worked out the date to be Jan 20 so that they would celebrate on Jan 21, FUMBLE aint surprise anybody. Foolishness he said a few weeks ago, he got the date but he aint telling nobody! Everybody had already worked out the date, FUMBLE.
But why didn’t FUMBLE face the nation and announce the date? I just dont understand the man.
For sure, if it was another constituency, he could not announce a date without having named a candidate. Mara seems to be dictating the pace “I am going home for Xmas, you all wait on me for an answer when I get back”. I thought FUMBLE had more sense and he would want to free himself of “Thompsons” after what David Thompson did to him whilst FUMBLE was close to Clyde Mascoll.
But wait, have you noticed how naive some St John people are? See a few of them on the front page of today’s NATION saying it is Mara or they are not voting! Wow, these people deserve what the DLP gives them!
The BEES dont have to say much these days, the DEMS are slowly imploding and destroying themselves all by themselves.
I laughed today when I heard the Minister of Health saying that once you are in politics, people will say all kinds of things about wealth that politicians acquire. Wasn’t these same DEMS who said and encouraged their supporters to villify the BLP politicans? What goes around, comes around!!!
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@checkit-out
Will it be PM Stuart who selects the candidate?
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Mara Thompson did not push to be selected for the St. John seat, the people of St. John made the request. Is that not what politics is all about. The people decide.
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@David
YES! PM Stuart WILL select the candidate. Don’t be disengenuous. Please have more respect for us than the government has for the people of St. John. -
David; Just a hypothetical. Suppose the Council chooses a candidate not to the liking of PM Stuart. What happens? Who has the final say?
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Actually David. The meeting to choose the candidate this weekend has to be a sham. The council cannot choose anyone other than Mara at this late stage. To choose one of the hopefuls and to have him or her accepted by PM Stuart and the DLP hierarchy would mean that they could not be 100% certain that the DLP would win the seat, given the short time available for campaigning for another candidate. PM Stuart seems to be a person who only deals with certainties thus he must certainly have let it be known to the constituency leaders that Mara is the only acceptable choice.
There is therefore a possibility that the unorthodox handling of the election so far through supposedly making a choice of a candidate at such a late stage is a conscious strategy to ensure that no one other than Mara could reasonably be chosen. If so, it indicates that PM Stuart might be a strategic thinker instead of a fumbler as some are calling him.
The greatest gamble would seem to be if they actually have the presentations, etc., as was mooted earlier. Such an occurence might cause some disaffection with the leadership.
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@David | December 29, 2010 at 4:37 PM | @checkit-out
Barbadians will take the opportunity to observe the interplay between the Mottley and Arthur factions.
“………..BTW, wither Henderson Bovell ………”
David, It would be pertinent to also ask in that same breath …… ” BTW, wither Bajan Panday …..”
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@ Barbados Uh Come From | December 30, 2010 at 10:28 PM |
Actually, I agree with David about watching the interplay between the Arthur and Mottley factions during the by-election campaign. It will tell us a lot about the state of play in that camp.Bajan Panday has been relatively quiet these days. I wonder why?
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@bajejun December 30, 2010 at 9:06 PM
The non scientific poll at the top of this page suggests that at the National level only about 1/3 of the population would like Mara to be the candidate.I wonder if it is really true that the St John people are so different to the rest of Barbados. In politics, successful strategies are often repeated and there is a folk tale that David Thompson got his original nomination as the DLP candidate for St John in a situation where influential power brokers got his name to the relevant authorities before another candidate who was being groomed for the job by the big man himself. Could Mara’s push by the constituency power brokers be an instance of history repeating itself?
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@checkit-out
It will all be revealed this weekend.
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That the PM has waited until the last minute to announce the candidate is a clear indication that Mara Thompson will indeed be the candidate. If it were to be anyone else then he would have given the public more time to get used to the idea, of that person.
In terms of the ‘safe seat’, riding on Errol Barrow’s legacy and then PM Thompson’s work in the area and sympathy vote, it is fairly clear that this is an uphill battle for the Opposition.
However, remember that as time goes on, the younger people will be voting and Barrow’s legacy becomes less relevant.
The next election will see the seat closer than before, even though if Mara does a good job she will probably retain it anyway in 2018.
But, the margin will probably be whittled a bit.
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Checkit-out,
It seems so, history seems to be repeating it self. St John deserves whatever the DLP throws at them. Do you think that if this were another constituency that PM FUMBLE could announce an election date without a candidate in place? No, only in St John.If Mara does run, is she going be accommodated in the cabinet? Would this then be the reason why the PM is still keeping the house until the owner who left him in charge returns?
If she is put in the cabinet, who would be put out? These are all reasonable questions of which we are sure no answers will be forth coming!!
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Simple. No need to exchange cabinet seats. Just add another Cabinet position.
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Another cabinet position, I dont think that could fly with the Bajan public, but there again the Dems can get away with anything. What is Harry Husbands, Physical Deficit Ince, Darcy Boyce doing now David Thompson dead? Certainly they are useless now Thompson has gone to the great beyond as he was the first executive PM B’dos ever had.
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well it seem mara has official tossed her hat in. I guess tomorrow they announce the other 10 or 11 withdrawing from the campaign.
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@anthony
Does it come as a surprise?
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Not at all. they would risk alienating their voters if they did otherwise
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@anthony
St. John is a safe seat, don’t think it would alienate.
It seems the DLP is responding to who St. John people are clamouring loudest for. We can bring all the esoteric arguments but at the end of the day it is who it is felt will be the best choice to be the representative.
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They would alienate them it they chose someone else than mara to run if she wished to run. They know better than to do that
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@anthony
Based on what we have been hearing it is the party which has been pressuring Mara as well.
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Mara go warm the seat for Oya…..smdh
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