The blogmaster studied the declaration of election expenses incurred by candidates in the recent St. George North by-election and it confirmed his views about many things, one being the entanglement of the duopoly in the body politic of Barbados for the foreseeable future. Discuss for 100 marks
The blogmaster studied the declaration of election expenses incurred by candidates in the recent St. George North by-election and it confirmed his views about many things, one being the entanglement of the duopoly in the body politic of Barbados for the foreseeable future.
Discuss for 100 marks
Final warning
Oh now i get a warning for doing what may i ask ?
You set out to defamed
Then when asked to provide proof u take the low road
Be that as it may day does run till night catches it
Alleyne quits DLP, ‘considering serving Govt’
SIMON ALLEYNE, who was hoping to contest a seat on a Democratic Labour Party ticket in the next General Election, has quit the party after more than ten years.
However, Alleyne has not ruled out joining the ruling Barbados Labour Party as, he believes he has something to offer the country.
“That is very possible. I’m considering being of service to the Government and this administration. I have something to offer and my skills can be used elsewhere,” he told the DAILY NATION while confirming his resignation as of January 7.
The former president of the young Democrats, chair of the St Michael North Constituency branch and more recently the party’s second vice president, had been campaigning in the St Philip North riding following the party’s loss in the 2018 elections.
“I’m grateful for the years of service I would have given to the party but at this point as I reflect on my life and the future of Barbados
and myself I do believe that my skill set can be better utilised elsewhere,” he said.
President of the DLP Verla De Peiza said that while Alleyne was considered as a candidate in the end he was not selected.
“Having been there I get his disappointment,” she said.
Alleyne, well known as one half of the comedic duo Rum and Coke, was also the party’s spokesman on health.
“I am willing to work with any political organisation that allows me to be of service to Barbados. Its not about me, its about putting Barbados first,” he said.
Alleyne is the latest DLP member to resign from the party.
In November, former DLP general secretary George Pilgrim resigned. That same month Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced that Rodney Grant and George Connolly, two former DLP candidates had joined the BLP. ( AC)
Source: Nation
@ David BU
Heard Paul Gibson ran away from Atherley’s People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PdP) and ‘straight into the awaiting arms’ of Verla and the DLP.
@Artax
Heard also her reply. Looks like the party is going with Michael over Simon.
PdP also losing members
By Colville Mounsey
colvillemounsey@nationnews.com
It appears it is not only the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) that is bleeding key membership of late, as the Joseph Atherley-led People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PdP) lost one of its high-ranking members with three more expected to go.
After his defection was made public yesterday by DLP president Verla De Peiza, Paul Gibson, who served two years as the spokesperson on health for the PdP, confirmed that he had joined the “party of Errol Barrow”.
The Weekend Nation confirmed that Dave Walrond, the man who contested the St George North byelection on the PdP ticket, is also making similar moves, so too is the party’s spokesperson on culture, Allan Springer. A source has also revealed that a fourth member of the party is contemplating leaving elective politics altogether, however efforts to reach that individual have been unsuccessful.
When contacted Gibson made it clear that there was no trouble in the camp, but rather he thought it prudent and in the best interest of Barbados to help with the rebuilding of the party that has been one of the two main pillars of this country’s political system.
He also made it clear that there was no bad blood between himself and the Leader of the Opposition, but rather it was a case of transitioning to the next phase of his political life.
Gibson said based on the lay of the political landscape, it was difficult to effect meaningful change using the platform of a third party.
“I can confirm categorically that I have decided to help with rebuilding of a very significant party, the party of Errol Barrow. I am about impacting generations to come and I want to ensure that we can bring about a lasting change in this country. Based on the revelation during the election at St George North by-election, I realised that I needed to make that switch,” he said.
Walrond and Springer both confirmed they were also contemplating a similar
move but would not comment officially on the issue until they first spoke with Atherley.
Surprised
Expressing surprise at the turn of events, Atherley disclosed that while he had discussions with Gibson up to three weeks ago about his impending departure, he had no inclination that the others were seeking to throw in their lot elsewhere.
“Paul did say to me that he was thinking about it, that he wanted to be of help to the Democratic Labour Party. As it relates to the others leaving, I am truly not aware of anything like that, but I am accustomed to things being thrown my way and that is the nature of politics. I don’t have a problem with what is happening. Paul had said that he is of the view that third parties have a very difficult time in this political culture and that he was thinking of changing lanes. At the end of the day that is ultimately every individual’s call,” said Atherley.
This development comes a day after DLP hopeful Simon Alleyne announced his resignation from the party. When pressed at yesterday’s press conference to announce the details of this year’s Errol Barrow celebrations, De Peiza said there had been tensions after Alleyne was not chosen to represent the constituency of his choice in the next general election.
She said disappointments were par for the course in politics, noting that herself and other senior members of the party had to wait before getting the nod to be on the DLP ticket.
Chalking it up to a win-somelose- some scenario, De Peiza then revealed that her party had been the beneficiary of a significant number of defections from other parties of late.
“I would say in Alleyne’s favour that he did not blind side the party. He had conversations with us, but disappointments happen in politics. We are going through candidate selection for 30 seats and sometimes we have up to five persons vying for the position, so someone will be disappointed, but how you deal with it is a personal issue,” said De Peiza.
She added: “We have had persons coming over to us from the Barbados Labour Party, we have had persons coming over to us from
the PdP. Just this week as we were having our council meetings, we had Paul Gibson, formerly of the PdP join us as well as other prominent members of the BLP. The difference is that we do not feel the need to make a spectacle of people. We want to work and we will work with the persons that want to work with us.”
Source: Nation
@ David BU
Paul Gibson is a very interesting fellow. He was an out spoken candidate for Solutions Barbados prior to the May 24, 2018 general elections, which he contested as their candidate for St. Michael South. Soon after, he parted ways with that political party to join Atherley’s PdP and became the Opposition spokesman on health issues.
But now, “Gibson said based on the lay of the political landscape, it was difficult to effect meaningful change using the platform of a third party.” He has switched allegiances once again to join, according to him, “the party of Errol Barrow” and to help them rebuild that political party.
Rather than exercising a bit of patience, while attempting to CHANGE ‘the lay of the political landscape’ and ‘effect meaningful change using the platform of a third party,’ Gibson wants to achieve that objective by joining one half of the duopoly.
Perhaps ‘Red Plastic Bag’ should do a remake of his 2010 calypso, ‘La, La,’ to immortalize in song, Barbados’ newest ‘political grasshopper.’
Interestingly, Atherley essentially downplayed Gibson’s departure by saying it wasn’t a ‘blow’ to the PdP and, although he was heard quite often because he was appointed to speak with reference to health-related matters,’ he wasn’t considered to be one of the more senior members of the political party.
DePeiza similarly downplayed Simon Alleyne recent resignation from the DLP as well, which, according to her, is not considered ‘a significant event.’ Yet, she was quick to respond, “however, we balance that because we have had persons coming over to us from the BLP and the PdP.”
So, it seems as though Alleyne resigning from the DLP was an insignificant event, but Gibson, and prominent members of the BLP joining the DLP, was a significant event that should be celebrated. Gibson should bear this in mind if or when he decides to leave Verla and DEM.
It’s very disappointing these guys do not have any patience nor are they prepared to make any long-term commitments to the people they are seeking to represent. They do not want to go into ‘the political trenches’ and ‘put in some work hard.’ Instead, they’re looking for ‘an easy way out’ by joining the duopoly.
@Artax
Keen followers of the local political scene can recall the accolades simon received during the disastrous DLP campaign in the last general election. It is clear by the actions of party leaders and some political candidates the political place is not conducive to disrupting the duopoly.
No future’ in PdP or third parties
By Rachelle Agard rachelleagard@nationnews.com
Political pundits across Barbados’ landscape all agree that the Opposition’s People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PdP) is not a true Opposition party and never will be.
Political scientist Dr Don Marshall told the Sunday Sun in light of the COVID-19 crisis facing the island, it was reverberating in ways that would see a shuffle of people that would manifest itself in them seeking to influence the Government by joining the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration, or the other mass-based Democratic Labour Party (DLP).
“The problem with the third party, the PdP, or any of the others that have been around in recent times, is that they have not yet sunk their roots across constituencies the length and breadth of the country. Questions about their legitimacy will continue to be raised. If you look at the St George North by-election, you will recognise they remained a limited source in the country. That by-election also revealed a decline in enthusiasm and getting the vote out,” he said.
Their comments came in the wake of the PdP’s Paul Gibson’s move to the DLP last week, and the announcement of his
running mates Dave Walrond and Allan Springer, and one other unnamed member, also looking to move.
Prior to that, Simon Alleyne, who intended to run on a DLP ticket in the next General Election, left that party to join the ruling BLP.
Marshall’s counterpart, Dr George Belle, said the PdP was never a true party because it did not have the required depth and substance, and was simply a manoeuvre by Opposition Leader, Bishop Joe Atherley to cross the floor after he was left out of the Cabinet.
“That organisation never had a political future. In my view, Mr Atherley is going to lose his seat in the next election and the very source of the party would have disappeared. Once they have suffered a certain amount of setbacks politically, like they did in the St George North by-election, the signal there would indicate that is what their future would be; that they would fail,” he maintained.
He noted the most successful third party in Barbados within the last 30 years had been the National Democratic Party, founded by Richie Haynes.
“He (Sir Richard) had national presence and was able to carry a section of the base of the DLP with him. He had money and he still failed. There is no future for third parties, which is systemic. In a two-party system such as we have, you can always have a third party, but unless it has a mass base or one of the main parties is collapsing, it will not be able to sustain itself,” he stressed.
Alternative Government
Political consultant Peter Wickham shared similar views and said Gibson’s move, and the intended move by Walrond, Springer and one other unnamed person from the ranks of the PdP supported the view he held all along.
“I’ve always argued the DLP received the secondhighest number of votes and I think legitimately Barbadians expect that the DLP is the alternative Government. PdP has essentially put up, one can argue, a good fight in terms of trying to demonstrate that it was the true reflection of opposition opinion, but I have never been convinced,” he opined.
He said after the next General Election, the PdP would cease to exist like all other third parties.
“I think the focus is quite rightly on the DLP.
I think Dave Walrond and Paul Gibson and Allan Springer, whom I am not familiar with, seem to have been operating under the delusion that the PdP could very well become the legitimate Opposition. And for the time being, because it has the leadership of the Opposition and the resources that come with it, they thought that was a better cart to hitch their wagon,” he said.
Meanwhile, political scientist Dr Kristina Hinds described the PdP as “a group of convenience precipitated by Atherley leaving the BLP”, and in doing so forming the Opposition party to buttress his move to become the leader of the Opposition.
“This is not altogether surprising to me because political parties require a mass base in order to be viable political parties, and the PdP does not have one. As for the movement from the DLP, this in some ways is not totally surprising that people would leave and go to the BLP. I think some of the movement of the individual people might be more surprising because of who they are,” she said.
She noted the DLP was started when Errol Barrow broke away from the ruling BLP.
“We’ve had other people who have left one party to join another, and I suppose because the fate of the DLP is quite uncertain, there may be those who are unwilling to stay the course and probably want to go to an option that seems surer,” she said.
Hinds said the current Government was quite powerful, and while she did not want to judge the motives of those who had left, there might be some opportunism because there were resources available to the BLP that were not available to the DLP, PdP or any other political party.
However, the pundits differed in relation to the DLP having not named their roster almost three years into the ruling Government’s five-year tenure.
Marshall said the normal cycle would be within two and a half to three years, the opposition party would start to put itself in a state of readiness.
“However, that kind of politicking and that way of proceeding sort of runs counter to the deep and profound crisis that we face right now. I think many of us don’t quite grasp the extent to which there is an existing crisis affecting us all because of COVID and the decimation, it is having on Government’s capacity to raise internal revenue, and on the extent to which cash flow and businesses have been severely affected.
As a result, he said the DLP could well delay that process of naming candidates until they were sure about the alternative programming and suggestions they want to put forward as a package.
“They need to consult wisely and they need to know that those persons they put in constituencies would be flag bearers of that new message,” he said.
Hinds remained undecided if not naming their roster was to their detriment. But, she noted the DLP needed to be careful in its selection of candidates.
Dangerous to wait
“In some ways it is dangerous for them to wait because we don’t know when the next election will be called. . . . so they could possibly be caught off guard. I suppose you would not want to rush and name candidates who are not good candidates.
“If they have recruitment issues they would also not want to rush and use just anybody who is available. I think this is part of the DLP’s issue of rebuilding; to think about how it will change its image from the last administration,” she said.
Wickham said he hoped Alleyne’s move was a wake-up call for the DLP.
“I can only hope the DLP will very shortly begin to name some candidates, and these would be candidates people would want to invest in politically and not the Dennis Lowes of this world. They have been doing a lot of strange things recently. If two years into a term, halfway down the line before the next election you are still unable to identify a slate of candidates, and rumours have been that you’re able to identify someone like Denis Lowe as a candidate and want to exclude Simon Alleyne, who in my opinion is one of the shining lights of the DLP, it says they have some serious work to do,” he charged.
Belle noted DLP leader Verla De Peiza had said she was “settling her list of candidates”, so he did not see room for those who had moved away from the PdP to join her team. He said similar to those who had moved from the BLP to the DLP, they were all political hustlers and carried no political weight.
Source: Nation
Phillips encourages members to try different parties
Leader of Solutions Barbados, Grenville Phillips II, is encouraging those within his party to align themselves with major political parties and, hopefully, reshape Barbados.
“Once you signed up to go with Solutions, you went with Solutions until the election result was known. After that, you were free to go to any other party. Actually, you were encouraged to go to another party to try to influence them to be better based on what you learnt with us. Hopefully, they would take what they learnt from us and improve those parties,” he said.
He said he would continue as leader of the party until June, when an annual general meeting was constitutionally due.
“I am still the leader even though I am not in elective politics, but I would give the party all the support I can. They will then select a new leader, I believe. It is up to the membership to decide what they want to do. I have decided I will not be running again for the foreseeable future.
Something drastic would have to happen,” he stated. Following the results in the St George North byelection last November, in which he was a candidate, Phillips announced his retirement. “I did my best for five years and two elections and the people have decided what they wanted.
I have to follow Jesus.
Jesus explained you give the people your best and after that you shake the dust off your feet and give it to others,” he said. Phillips, who is also a structural engineer by profession, said his party’s solutions were excellent for Barbados. Expressing his disappointment in the outcome of the
St George North by-election, he said the people did not have to vote for a party to be put into power.
“They could have given me 30 months to make St George North the most prosperous constituency in Barbados. After that, they could go back to the Bees and Dees, but at least they would have experienced what prosperity looks like. I cannot force myself on them. Twice they made their choice.
“I cannot give the people what they want. They have already decided what they want. I wanted to give them prosperity, I wanted to give them proper management in accordance with the International Management Standard,” he declared.
“. . . My responsibility is to give good advice. I cannot make people take it or accept it. That is going into dictatorship and I don’t do that. If they take my advice they would benefit. If they reject it, they won’t,” he said.
He also chided the media for not asking the right questions and scrutinising the plans of candidates in the by-election. (RA)
Source: Nation
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.