A few years ago Minister Michael Lashley was the starboy of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). He was complimented for expanding the housing stock, exponentially. He ensured Barbadians erased Liz Thompson’s ‘bumblebee’ prototype from memory. Years later many of the houses built by Lashley with tax dollars are unoccupied or rotted. If we include the Coverley PPP it gets worse. A few years later Minister of Transport and Works Michael Lashley will be recorded in a political footnote as having presided during a period where the state of Barbados roads deteriorated to a level slightly above a cart road.
Of concern to the blogmaster though are observations arising from the waning LEC debate.
Some are of the view now that the LEC debate is behind us, more important issues will be have the space to fuel discussion. What they fail to acknowledge is that the political principals who waylaid Barbadians with the manufactured issue of Mia’s LEC are also responsible for informing and leading the country on the pressing issues of the day.
In his Sunday Column – The Jeff Cumberbatch Column–Non – litigious Resolution of Defamation Lawsuits – Jeff Cumberbatch shared his view on the LEC matter:
To the best of my knowledge and belief, Ms Mottley has been duly admitted to the local Bars, both Utter and Inner. Unless and until she is removed therefrom or otherwise disbarred by appropriate procedure she remains duly admitted. Omnia praesumuntur rite esse acta [Apologies for the Latin] It means that there is a presumption that acts done through the court are rightly and properly done.
The outcome of the recent court case Mia Mottley vs Barbados Today confirmed that Mia Mottley is qualified to practice law in the Courts of Barbados.
What Barbadians must reflect on is why did the Prime Minster of Barbados- a seasoned lawyer and former Attorney General- not have the knowledge of the law and procedure related the LEC issue. One must assume he did not know because he said nothing.
Although the Attorney General is a legal neophyte and light weight he had the resources of the Solicitor General’s office and other state resources to have been equipped to clarify the LEC matter in less than 24 hours. Some should recall he promised on the floor of the House of Assembly to investigate the matter. A promise he failed to keep. One must assume he dis not know.
Then there is Hal Gollop, better known to the BU household as a school teacher and musician, who prosecuted the LEC matter recently at a DLP political meeting. What has his failed LEC argument done to injure his reputation as a lawyer? Clearly he was party to a political plot to ‘decapitate’ the leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) a few months from a general election. One must assume he misinterpreted the relevant laws and procedures related to the LEC issue.
The challenge Barbadians face is that we have an obsturate political directorate whose members are willing to crash the economy on the altar of political expediency. Why should intelligent Barbadians expect that this government is able to appreciate what rising oil prices will do to the economy? We are a country with a DEBT to GDP ratio of close to 150% and foreign reserves cover of 8 weeks. Despite the current state of the economy this inept lot prefers to try to hoodwink Bajans by floating a silly debate anchored to Mia’s qualification to practice law in Barbados.
Imagine if Stuart, Brathwaite and Gollop were able to put heads together to promote a component of transparency legislation promised from day one? Wasn’t Gollop contracted to draft a roadmap to assist with moving Barbados to a Republic? Didn’t Stuart and Brathwaithe promise to examine existing to electoral laws to address what they admitted to irregularities that occurred last general election?
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