At a time Barbadians are crying out for leadership the official Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has pursued a strategy to retreat into political obscurity. In the same way many believe the government is responsible for rolling out policies that are heavily influenced by the dictates of international lending and credit rating agencies so too the behaviour of the BLP is being dictated by a high level of factionalism.
In is not uncommon for political parties while in opposition to engage in internal squabbling. Unfortunately this is an aged old process which serves as a crucible for the best of the best to emerge. Our democracy was tested in the Thompson versus Mascoll years and history seems destine to be repeated with the Mottley versus Arthur saga now playing out.
Mia Mottley has had to suffer the ignominy of being rejected by parliamentary colleagues. We all remember the so named Gang of 5 who anticipated an easy win at the polls with Thompson’s death imminent and in the Prior Park Accord recalled Arthur to keep out Mottley. What cursory study reveals is that there is an influential element in the BLP who come hell or high water will fight against Mottley becoming prime minister of Barbados. What makes a mockery of our party system is the political gimmicks which an unsuspecting electorate must endure as narrow and selfish interest play out within political parties. The irony is that Arthur has suffered two devastating defeats and yet the message is still not clear to the Arthur faction.
Up to now Barbadians have not been given a cogent explanation by the BLP hierarchy to explain BLP Chairman George Payne at the time statement to the media, “Owen Seymour Arthur is the person we support as the leader of the opposition”, when the group replaced Mottley with Arthur. We have been given an insight in to the DLP election strategy by Reudon Eversley, one which targeted a tired Arthur smeared by allegations of corruption. It seems obvious if the BLP is to have a credible shot at recapturing the government it must settle the leadership issue sooner rather than later.
The call for Mottley to step down by political scientist Tennyson Joseph has some merit if one appreciates the role of the opposition (an opposition leader) in our system of government. What we have playing out at Roebuck Street – as it did during the Thompson versus Mascoll saga – is narrow political party chicanery trumping national interest. There is a simmering frustration building within the citizenry at the ineffectiveness of TwiddleD and TwiddleB to wrestle so many problems confronting the nation. The level of patronage which has characterized the reign of the BLP and DLP has no relevance in a world demanding transparency and meritocracy. If a small open economy of Barbados is to sustain itself in a global market which offers no preferential treatment, good governance and high productivity must become ingrained how we manage our affairs.
On of the big disappointments which BU admits to has been the inability of a highly educated nation to mobilize in the face of an unprecedented challenge. There has been a lack of leadership from all spheres of society and therefore no innovation, creativity or agility in thinking. The focus has been to present cold economic measures but missing up to now has been a message from our political directorate and NGO leaders which kindles confidence and hope. Without a relevant message from our leaders that resonates we are wasting time.
Our democracy will remain weak if the BLP opposition is weak. So far Arthur and those who managed in the boom years of the 90s and 20s have not addressed the criticism from a large percentage of the electorate that sqandamania of public funds has become his legacy.
Barbados finds itself in a strange place .
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