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The Duopoly | Third Parties Failing So Far

Mia Mottley and Freundel Stuart represent the duopoly

A year or so ago when I said that any new party mounting a platform on transparency and integrity in 2018 can’t get my vote, I was ridiculed. Barbados is in an economic morass, the electorate is looking for leadership, experience and a track record that combine to instill a level of confidence and belief in the people that the government can get us out of the current situation. The new parties are peddling catch phrases and sound bites–innovation, entrepreneurship, restructure, 11+, food security, AE, culture and of course FOI and IL. Nothing short of palaver more suited for Alice . If the last 9 years has taught us one lesson it should be that talking policy and actually implementing policy are not the same kettle of fish. This is not an election for alternative parties – Enuff

Based on the evidence of the recent CADRES poll third parties have not gained traction in Barbados in the lead in to the next general election constitutionally due in less than one year. This is despite a political, economic and social climate that should be presenting opportunities to all comers. From behind BU’s dashboard it seems clear the choices of political parties to govern Barbados STILL top of mind of the electorate are the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), the Duopoly.

Even Owen Arthur appears on the radar ahead of leaders of the so called third parties.

Both political parties command significant support from the respective bases which represent a significant percentage of the perennial total vote. It is worth noting that the total number of those who are eligible to vote rarely has exceeded 70% . Too besides, none of the third parties on offer have been able to present a compelling message anchored in a differentiating philosophy from the BLP and DLP. This is made all the more distressing in the resignation that both BLP and DLP have adopted a reactive approach to governing Barbados. Management by crisis!

65 responses to “The Duopoly | Third Parties Failing So Far”

  1. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    I agree with what Enuff has stated in this post,that 2018 or before will be won or lost by the two existing parties with little or no help from the third parties.

    I will however reiterate a previous statement that he disagrees with,which is that the UPP out of all the third parties once they stick to their community focus will be a force to be reckoned with in 2023,especially after the DEMs implode over this 9 year fiasco.

    Political landscape hates a vacuum.

  2. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    …………Based on the evidence of the recent CADRES poll third parties have not gained traction in Barbados in the lead in to the next general election constitutionally due in less than one year…………..

    I thought in the recent poll third parties werent a choice for the respondants. It was chose chose between D or B.

  3. David Avatar
    David

    Kevin you never read with understanding.

  4. Old Baje Avatar
    Old Baje

    @ David
    I’m disappointed that you chose to talk about third parties at this time. Haven’t we all agreed that they don’t stand a chance?
    What’s your take on the march?
    Will it cause the government to change its political calculations?
    Will it move public opinion?
    Is it a waste of time?

  5. David Avatar
    David

    Talk about third parties is important because it is one avenue to galvanize and promote chage to our governance system. The narrative of the BU household is not manipulated by others. We make our opinions not accept others. You are free to post yours of course.

  6. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    I wonder aloud why Saturday is a day off from the daily challenges facing Bajans.No talk shows,no political meetings,no debates,it’s as though everybody takes a breather awaiting something to happen that would correct Barbados’s many societal and economic ills.
    One wouldn’t think that the unions and some concerned private sector companies plan a march on Monday.Its as though the government is not taking the march as a serious protest against its policies.Remarkable for a caring government about to seek a mandate to govern for five more years.Its a recipe for failure at the polls.If there is no formal acceptance of a desire to meet with the contending parties next week,the atmosphere for ‘upping de ting’ will only get worse.I think the strategy is to allow the govt to save face next week,failing which the heavy roller will be brought out at the vulnerable locations week beginning July 30th

  7. David Avatar
    David

    Will the BLP group support the march?

    Interesting for BU will be if CAP, UPP and Solutions Barbados will support labour and private sector by marching.

  8. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Enuff

    A very well made half of a point.

    Should you at some time grow the cojones to deliver a complete idea, then, and only then, will your contribution make complete sense.

    For the failure of third parties to gain traction cannot be disconnected from the very nature of the duopoly political culture.

    Third parties can never viably exist within such a system.

    Unfortunately, until those who would commend third parties also come to see that the challenge is NOT merely defeating the DLP or the BLP or gaining some ‘market share’, but showing the entire system to be the failure it is, has been.

    Anything less, will always be a waste of time or merely extend the life of that which needs consigning to the dust-heap of history.

    In the final analysis your argument is best seen as support for the BLP, as duopoly partner in crime, by a not so skillful process of elimination of third parties as ‘fake’ challengers to your political orthodoxy.

  9. Old Baje Avatar
    Old Baje

    OK.
    Sadly, the march will not achieve much. The clowns running the country right now are indifferent to crticism or pressure. Fumble, in particular, is one cool cat who does not appear to lose sleep over anything. Good luck to the marchers. The people of Barbados made a big mistake in 2013 re-electing this posse and we just have to grin and bear it for the next 9 months. The NSRL might dampen demand for FX and buy us a little time.

    Also, as soon as Sinckler starts talking lay-offs the union and private sector will part company.

  10. chad99999 Avatar
    chad99999

    Pachamama

    ought to know that it is almost umpossible to create revolutionary conditions in any society, which is what it would take to overthrow the system.

    I am embarrassed to be Barbadian, because the next government will not only be corrupt, but incompetent AND sexually deviant.

    For shame!

  11. Old Baje Avatar
    Old Baje

    @ Pacha
    When people say the third parties don’t have a chance they are not saying they don’t want them. The reality of the first-past-the-post system is that they cannot get traction. I favour a hybrid system where half the seats are allocated by the proprtion of the national vote. So, for example, if we had 15 seats allocated in that way a party acieving 15% of the vote would get 2 seats (approx. 1/7 of 15).
    The only way to engineer a change like this, other than revolution, is to join the the main parties and infect them with integrity and some new ideas.

  12. David Avatar
    David

    Agree with you chad99999, an examination of the pipeline of the government in waiting gives rise to a worried state of mind.

  13. David Avatar
    David

    @Old Baje

    And who will change it?

    Not the duopoly and the minions of members of the political class that benefit? Why would they change it?

  14. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Chad,
    A government is inanimate, it cannot be sexually deviant.

  15. Old Baje Avatar
    Old Baje

    It will not be easy. All the desired reforms of our governance require the ceding of power by the political class. Citizens’ groups and blogs auch as this have to educate the public and move public opiinion to the point where the parties see implementation of reforms as something attractive to the voters. It will not be easy.

  16. Old Baje Avatar
    Old Baje

    such

  17. chad99999 Avatar
    chad99999

    Hal

    You are wrong again.

    A government is a committee of individuals, and CAN be sexually deviant.

  18. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    The 3rd parties needs to amalgamate or merge to be effective in the next election. But the party leaders will want to be the leader, so I dont see that happening.

  19. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Chad999999
    Hal …You are wrong again.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++
    Superfluous….

    Water …you are wet.
    Fire …. you are hot
    angela …. you are shiite

    (other examples of superfluity…..)
    LOL
    ha ha ha

  20. enuff Avatar
    enuff

    Pachamamamama

    A complete idea? Shite I have clearly wasted my time here!

  21. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    @ Chad

    Revolutionary conditions are matters of the social sciences

    We already know how such conditions have been created in the past

    And how, with accuracy we can do so again. Anytime needed!

    For example, Gene Sharp’s, CIA sponsored work, From Dictatorship to Democracy is merely one case study.

    It was the philosophical plank of the Arab Spring, and all the coloured revolutions of recent times.

  22. Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger

    lol..

  23. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Chad,
    I am willing to be your tutor, you need it. A government is made up of individuals, who can all or singly be sexually deviant, but a government cannot be sexually deviant.
    Among your five qualifications, including your PhD, it seems you did not study government or law – not that I know the difference.

  24. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Old Baje

    Have you not noticed that unless third parties anywhere in a duopoly are able to displace one of the contenders they are absolved by them, continue to exist merely as fringe elements, regionally.

    In this case the third party merely becomes part the duopoly. Nothing changes structurally.

    Yours is a valid ideas for a better system. However, why not consider a system where people power never have to be vested in political or economic elites.

    Meaning popular, democratic, participation everyday.

  25. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

  26. Old Baje Avatar
    Old Baje

    Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others
    -Churchill

  27. Prodigal Son Avatar
    Prodigal Son

    Has anyone seen the memo to CBC employees going around on Whatsapp where Chris Sinckler’s wife told the employees that their pay will be docked for their uncerified leave?

    Wow!

  28. Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger

    Bushman……ah think John and MoneyB need your help….lol

    if SB does not get any seats…he knocked himself out of the race.

    the conditions are ripe to unseat the government, people are fed up and have a litany of grievances, from CLICO, to thiefing corrupt ministers, to missing money, to no accountability, transparency or respect for the majority population….and the list goes on.

    instead SB looked like he was campaigning. for government by blaming all the people`s grievances on opposition…lol

  29. Hamilton A Hill Avatar
    Hamilton A Hill

    Right now the BLP is behaving exactly like the DLP did back in 2007/2008. The furore generated by HARDWOOD and the escapades of one Rodney Wilkerson now drives the debate that focuses on CAHILL and one Mark Maloney. The forked tongue sermon preached from the environs of the “Bussa” roundabout in today’s dispensation has been branded A Covenant Of Hope. For some strange reason I am impressed by Edmund Hickson, but then again I loved David Thompson perhaps as much as one of his children…..and where dat get mah?

  30. mitchlans Avatar
    mitchlans

    Chad, on what planet are you living to imagine for one moment that sexual deviancy, as you call it, is just as prevalent in the current crop as in ‘the pipeline’? And if you are prepared to remove the blinkers from your yardfowl eyes, you might consider starting at the top.

  31. mitchlans Avatar
    mitchlans

    That should read ‘is not just as prevalent in the current crop’

  32. Hamilton A Hill Avatar
    Hamilton A Hill

    I want some reporter to question the leader of the opposition about where she stands in relation to securing a two thirds majority after the next poll. Is she amenable to discussion on constitutional changes? It has to be more than word of mouth, for as has been demonstrated by this administration to the members of the social partnership the word of the Political Class is not worth the cost of the paper on which it is written.

  33. David Avatar
    David

    Good comment Hamilton.

    The reason why the political class has been able to get away with manipulating the population is just what you have raised. We allow them to lead the conversation. Time to start being intelligent, the masses.

  34. Old Baje Avatar
    Old Baje

    @ HH

    See https://barbadosunderground.wordpress.com/2017/05/23/mia-mottley-addresses-governance-reform/

    from about the halfway mark

  35. Hamilton A Hill Avatar
    Hamilton A Hill

    Perhaps Chad 99999 can offer his definition of sexual deviancy. How long now people lil boys were ushered into the church choirs of a certain denomination, and a blind eye was turned while the fathers sought sexual gratification? Or you din a bajan then? Perhaps not .

  36. Hamilton A Hill Avatar
    Hamilton A Hill

    @ old baje……thank you so much…..gonna check it out right now.

  37. enuff Avatar
    enuff

    David

    Y’all keep framing the BLP in the context of what David Thompson and the DLP promised in 2008 and have not delivered. Again I ask, what did Owen and his BLP promised between 1994-2008 that was fundamental to our governance and or economy that they did not deliver or attempted to deliver? What guarantee do you have that UPP or Solutions or any other party will deliver on their promises? None!! At this time every promise is word of mouth whether a column in the newspaper, a covenant of hope or Facebook posts by the party leader, and not chairperson of a political party as claimed on Brasstacks Sunday few weeks ago. Our “brightness” is our biggest problem.

  38. Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well @ Consequences Observing Blogger

    only just got the story of Sandiford-Garner having someone charged for calling her a dog…

    dude should have been charged for insulting dogs…instead.

    dogs are loyal and loving when treated well….how could he make such an error..

    a dude in US recently got 45 years in prison for killing a dog…

    another dude got 15 or 16 years for killing 15 cats.

    animals` lives are worth more than human lives in US…black lives anyway.

  39. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Enuff

    Nuff things. Including never to leave Mia in charge

  40. Hamilton A Hill Avatar
    Hamilton A Hill

    My name is not David but permit me a stab at the shield of defense that seems to be erected anytime the BLP is exposed to the glare of public scrutiny, as if sainthood is somehow a trait that cloaks members of the political class , only if their origins are traced to Roebuck Street. The shenanigans of the aforementioned Rodney Wilkerson….the escapades of one “Muscle Mary” and others,that recrimination here can serve no useful purpose other than highlight the fact not withstanding it’s achievements, the Arthur years presented many a challenge for Barbados. The gist of the post has been borne out.Our problem is the POLITICAL CLASS…..Both B and D.

  41. Old Baje Avatar
    Old Baje

    Yes, but they have the power. We have to persuade them to give up some of it and allow themselves to be subject to scrutiny. A difficult task. The only alternative to this is revolution.

  42. Sunshine Sunny Shine Avatar
    Sunshine Sunny Shine

    It is absolutely amazing, how on one hand, most of you beckon for the rise of a third party (ies), and on the other, cutting them down with a lot of uncalled for dribble. Why cant any of you promote them even if the battle their face might not peter out in their favour. Even if they had to find the right mix, speak the right language, and promote their parties value systems base on the tenets laid down by the BU edu.crew, most of you will still find reason to call them out of touch and not well informed. You have all criticised the vision of Granville’s party on the basis of his approach to recruiting possible candidates. I, too, have criticise him for that, but at the end of the day, he should be given the chance to prove all of us wrong, and his vision right, or vice versa. On here, all you get constantly is why the third parties will fail. We all know the reasons why, but must we constantly present it as the Achilles heal? There is a percentage of Barbadians, large, small, I do not know, that are undecided and no longer impressed with the politics of the Bees or Dees. These people might just see the those alternative parties that are looking viable as the party of their choice. They might now win, but they certainly will minus the number of supporters who once were followers of either parties. Why the hell any of you cannot promote instead of constantly turning down. Shite, its hard to know what the ass Bajans want hear. Looooooord!!!

  43. SuckaBubby Avatar
    SuckaBubby

    Bajans fear the inevitable of that we have to grow up and be more responsible for the destiny of Barbados.That is the wider narrative of the presence of the so called third parties which are mere inflections of the wider voice for change and to uproot of what we know,where we have to go , where we might not be comfortable with, adulthood.Its no coincidence the rise of political fallout and the rise of social media giving meat to bones of where people had no say or feeling unimportant in the process of having a say in national issues.

    Its still new, where there is a wide appeal to use social media responsibly, even in the advent of advice to our constabulary of its presence.The real challenge to ourselves and to the third parties is this.Is there that staying power after the elections despite who wins to keep engendering a process of people power or do we retreat to our crabholes saying why bother nothing dont change about here.

    I support political alternatives because I know its incumbent for the national psyche to just grow up.The presence of the so called third parties are just brave souls like them or not who have decided to step out onto the frontlines.We dont all have to but we have a duty to participate at what level we can afford.The real third party is Barbados.I prefer to buoy than bash.

  44. enuff Avatar
    enuff

    Sunshine

    Bajans want better governance, it does not mean wanting a “third” party because it is another option, after all PEP, NDP and other parties have contested elections in Barbados before. You are eliding the two issues. A victorious “third” party with no change will just create a short term oligopoly before a duopoly re-emerges given the homogeneity of political ideology in Barbados. I am not on the “third” equals right bandwagon, therefore if they platform is weak I shall say it is weak. #passmewiththebs

    Hamilton

    I don’t know what shield you are referring to. I simply said that any promise made by any of the political parties is word of mouth. Are you demanding a sworn affidavit? If you believe the problem lies solely at the feet of the political class then we surely in ducks’ guts. Like I said, we too “bright” and equally just as lazy and yella belly, so that’s why we would like power of recall where we can “hide” and vote. But march? Hell no!! Then we wonder why the “political class” only make promises? Well it is because they know we believe that change can only be effected through hiding in a voting booth every 5 years.

  45. enuff Avatar
    enuff

    *therefore if THEIR platform is weak I shall say it is weak.

    And for the record, I never said there should be no other parties. I said given the economic and social circumstances, it is not an election for other parties. Didn’t the other parties combined polled at 2% in the CADRES poll?

  46. David Avatar
    David

    @enuff

    Your point is taken that a new third party does not translate to a better governance option. But it is the same as exercising the option to vote for D or B. And it is their right under the Constitution to form political parties.

  47. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    What ‘translates into better governance’ – in the absence of a BUP -styled cooperative system- is for the people to become so militant and aggressive, that the shiite government is cowed into doing the things that they should…

    The way to do this, is to start by bursting the shitty DLP’s ass RIGHT NOW…. and to literally chase their donkeys out of office… We CANNOT go wrong here cause ANY SHIITE is better than those DLP JAs…

    Then, with that new-found confidence, we tell the BLP – to their faces, how our future will go …
    OR ELSE….

    We want..
    ITAL…
    No more wuk4Wuk
    No more muscle Mary shiite – (in fact – no more Muscle Mary…)
    Any kind of teefing to mean – JAIL.
    Empower the Auditor General with the ability to prosecute…

    This strike is more about sending a message to the BLP than it is about the shiite DLP.,,, who are so damn dumb that the message probably eludes them anyhow …. damn jokers cannot even multiply $10 by 200000 successfully…..

  48. Old Baje Avatar
    Old Baje

    Agree with Bush Tea
    It is really the BLP we have to grapple with now because the DLP is on the way out. Now is the time to extract commitments to more accountability and transparency. After the election will be too late. It may already be too late if they smell victory.

  49. Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger

    Better start putting pressure on Mia now and any 3rd party that looks like they may be elected, they all pick up taxpayer’s money and waste it on stupidity.

    http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/98933/slow-ride

    This dude is not a mechanic, everyone knows that if you have 300 buses and 200 are off the road, your problem is a lack of proper maintence, but Fruendel and his idiots….in this case a world class idiot Michael Lashley, needs to waste taxpayer’s money on a monthly basis for a consultant to tell him he needs mechanics….the man, woman or child in the street could have tokd them that.

    ……this is criminal….the people need to get this useless government as far away from the treasury and pension fund as possible…the further…the better.

    The first thing that came to my mind was kickbacks…otherwise, what the hell do they need this guy at taxpayer’s exoense to do…there is nithing can justify this wastage.

    “THE CASH-STRAPPED Transport Board has been paying a Trinidadian consultant $22 000 a month to get 200 defective buses back in operation, the Sunday Sun can reveal.

    David Bartholomew, an engineer who worked with the public transport system in Trinidad, was hired by the Transport Board in March 2016 to undertake the repair of the buses on an initial six-month contract.
    Apart from his salary he has been provided with a vehicle, housing accommodation and airfare twice a month back to his homeland.
    When he took up the assignment, 142 buses were on the road, according to sources close to the board.”

  50. Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences Observing Blogger

    A year later…they still got a bus shortage, despite the expensive consultant…so yeah, a message must be sent to Mia and the other political parties.

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