Submitted by Barbados Election Watch

One can now be left in no doubt that the Nation Newspaper has set itself the agenda of getting rid of Prime Minister Stuart at all cost. On more than one occasion, contributors to this blog have drawn attention to the unmistakably biased approach of that paper towards the Prime Minister of Barbados. It would seem that  whatever he does, or fails to do, no matter that he conducts himself with the highest level of decorum, and honesty he can be the subject of some form of ridicule . Very recently noted historian and  veteran trade unionist Mr Robert Bobby Morris drew attention to the way the Prime Minister was depicted by the paper when it sought to comment in a front page  article on the results of the CADRES poll . Mr Stuart the tallest of the persons presented in a form of picture chart , was made to look like some puny midget in a straight-jacket while the others , of shorter stature , were much more favourably presented. Other persons have been commenting on the kinds of photos of Mr Stuart that the paper has been recently using in its efforts to ridicule him in some form or fashion .

Today however, the newspaper has done its worst. The BIG BOLD HEADLINES IN RED SCREAMED …” NOT A WORD”. BHTA head says PM has not responded to request for meeting “It was a story by a Gercine Carter in which the paper has outdone itself in its efforts at  vilification . The Prime Minister was being ” rapped for failing to respond to a Barbados Hotel Association ( BHTA ) request for an urgent meeting to discuss the  plight of the Island’s vital tourism industry “. It went further to state that “the Prime Minister’s priorities were yesterday called into question by the outgoing president of the BHTA, Colin Jordan, who pointed to Stuart’s promptness in meeting with Cuban ex-convict Raul Garcia at Dodds Prison recently, while a letter requesting the meeting more than two months ago had not been acknowledged to date “.

Those of us who were prepared to reason beyond the superficial immediately asked ourselves a few questions :

1. Is there not a Ministry of Tourism and a Minister of Tourism to whom this letter could have been addressed? Certainly it cannot be expected that every single request for Government intervention must be addressed to the Prime Minister. And is it not a fact that the Prime Minister’s intervention in the Garcia matter was triggered by the fact that he is the Minister of Defence and security?
2. Is this not the same Colin Jordan who was a prospective BLP candidate for one of the constituencies who was being given a chance by a partisan and unprofessional rag and a partisan organisation of the BHTA who was once led by Colin Jordan’s present boss Peter Odle now the senior collector of funds for Owen Arthur second only to Hallam Nicholls  and was it not only designed to score a political point?

But the charge became even more serious. “Jordan said that Presidents and past presidents of the association had come together and had written to the Prime Minister requesting an  urgent meeting to discuss the plight of the hotel sector and tourism in general. After two and a half months we are still awaiting that requested urgent meeting with the Prime Minister”, Jordan said. “I believe that the situation where full service hotels are concerned is far more urgent than the situation with Mr Garcia “.  This story was certainly meant to depict the Prime Minister as a leader who had no idea of what the priorities in the decision making process should be; it was a rude censure.

However, lo and behold, the news on the sister medium VOB boomed out at 12 : 30 pm. ..The outgoing President of the BHTA Colin Jordan said he was misquoted by the Nation Newspaper; the Prime Minister DID IN FACT ACKNOWLEDGE THE LETTER .

We must therefore ask AGAIN: How could a newspaper reporter who represented herself as being present at that annual general meeting GET IT SO WRONG ? Or, was it a deliberate  piece of mischief by the newspaper itself to wilfully avoid the facts as part of its crusade of vilification of Prime Minister Stuart? On this occasion it would have found a willing ally in  Colin Jordan.

Whatever it is, we are here presented with another opportunity whereby we must say to the Nation Newspaper ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We must not stand for anymore of this unseemly conduct from a newspaper which depends upon the support of the public for its survival .

THE NATION MUST BE CENSURED.