The seemingly small gesture of Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, of recommending her father for a knighthood speaks volumes about the way how she intends to govern, or should I say rule, this country. It is another clear clear indication that Miss Mottley is hell bent on establishing the closest thing to royalty in Barbados, with her friends and family as the upper class.
The people of this country should not be surprised by the indecent haste with which the PM procured the appointment for daddy dearest. It would appear that indecent haste is the hallmark of everything associated with this new Mottley administration. The indecent haste of amending the Constitution to secure the appointment of friends to the Senate. The indecent haste of terminating public workers, ostensibly to save money, rather than go after tax defaulters who owe in excess of one billion dollars to the Treasury. And let’s not forget the indecent haste of rushing legislation through parliament to forgive tax defaulters who failed to pay their taxes between 1968 and 2000. They are many others but these are just a few examples of the haste and bad judgment that has characterised this administration so far.
However, I want to concentrate on the recommendation to Her Majesty the Queen, to award the Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) to the Prime Minister’s father. It looks bad. Someone close to the PM, maybe the knight himself, should have told her how it looks.
Like many, I am not concerned about the criteria for awarding the knighthood, since over the centuries, the monarch of England have granted such distinctions to a variety of scoundrels for service to the Crown. That is not to say that any of the current recipients of high honour are scoundrels. For example, a pirate, Francis Drake, was knighted for service to the Crown.
To my mind, the appointment has less to do with service to this country and is more about setting up an upper class in this country, with the Prime Minister and her family as the queen and court. From now on Sir Elliot and his wife Lady Mottley have the right to parade around the world with a Barbados Diplomatic passport as long as they live. Again, to my mind, this particular knighthood is more about the perks than the honour itself.
Gimme the vote and watch muh take care of my friends and family to the exclusion of all others.
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