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Looks Like the DLP Playing the Long Game

The blogmaster read Nation newspaper Barry Alleyne’s report De Peiza sticking with the process and was finally convinced the raison d’être the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) continues to go about a methodical candidate selection process. The system of governance and politics practised in Barbados makes it the business if ALL Barbadians to want a strong…

The blogmaster read Nation newspaper Barry Alleyne’s report De Peiza sticking with the process and was finally convinced the raison d’être the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) continues to go about a methodical candidate selection process. The system of governance and politics practised in Barbados makes it the business if ALL Barbadians to want a strong political Opposition. Say what we will about the need for a third party movement the DLP is the only current credible option in our political orbit.

The article reminded Barbadians that the DLP is sticking with a vetting process that sees ALL members of the party being “eligible to apply and all are subject to the same vetting process – no exceptions, not even for me” [Verla]. To date the DLP has announced only three candidates to run in the upcoming general election constitutionally due in 2023 – Verla De Peiza, Andre Worrell and Ryan Walters. Political pundits agree the DLP will not win the next general election and the leadership of that party is correctly playing a long game, that is; taking the necessary steps, now, to set yourself up for long-term success.

Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson of the UK is quoted that a week is a long time in politics. There are two years to go until 2023 if Prime Minister Mottley goes the full distance. President Verla De Peiza and the DLP has a rapidly closing window to line up the political ducks and allow sufficient time for those candidates with a legitimate chance of winning to deploy effective ground strategies. The raging pandemic will not help.

It should be obvious the biggest campaign issue in the next election will be the economy and jobs. By the time the bell is rung public transportation, garbage collection and water challenges in the North will be non issues. Coincidentally Chairman of the SSA reported yesterday the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) and the waste management arm of Barbadian company Innotech Services Limited will be implementing a ten-month project to change how garbage is collected and processed in Barbados.

For too long the blogmaster has been commenting about the lack of a credible DLP spokesperson on financial matters. The best research indicates President of the DLP Verla De Peiza is the ‘shadow minister’ of finance. This is a key area the DLP as it prepares for the next election will have to address. There is a reason the label Lost Decade has stuck to the DLP. It is widely accepted by the public the last DLP administration badly mismanaged the economy and for this reason former Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler seems to be reluctant to show his face in public with any frequency.

This brings us to the other point to note in the Barry Alleyne article. David Estwick, Stephen Lashley and Dennis Lowe appear to be more than mildly interested in returning to the political fray. The blogmaster has commented many times were those candidates to be selected it will be a mistake. It would open the floodgates for the BLP to rehash 2018 talking points.

151 responses to “Looks Like the DLP Playing the Long Game”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Year four begins
    MONDAY, MAY 24, 2021 marks the beginning of the Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) fourth year in office. Generally, in the Caribbean, this milestone signals the build up to a general election.
    Undoubtedly therefore, in the midst of observing the BLP’s responses to the immediate and pressing developmental and administrative concerns, Barbados will no doubt be witnessing the BLP’s process of subtle and deliberate electioneering.
    Given the present balance of political forces, it is safe to posit that, barring no major disruptive political event, it is unlikely that the BLP will lose the next election, given its 30-seat buffer from 2018.
    Thus far, there does not exist convincing evidence to indicate that the main opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has done enough to convince the Barbadian public that it has sufficiently negated the memory of its 2008-2018 governmental performance or has offered a viable alternative in terms of policy programme and personnel, to form the next Government.
    Despite this, it may be useful to raise some “red flags” (a bad pun if any), on the kinds of potential head-winds which the BLP might confront in its bid for re-election.
    In this regard, it is expected that the main threats to the BLP will come, not in the form of policy or programme challenges, but around
    questions of “governance” and “politics” in itself.
    Ironically, the BLP’s 30-seat victory will be its main challenge going into the next election. The main tactic of the opposition DLP will be to focus on reclaiming the seats in its historical strongholds.
    In this effort, it will be aided by abiding concerns about “fear of dictatorship”, and the “implications for a healthy democracy” if no formal opposition exists. In short, the DLP will appeal to Barbadians’ sense of “democratic sobriety”, while pleading directly to its traditional mass base.
    To counter this, the BLP will have to avoid any semblance of authoritarianism. It must demonstrate “political responsibility” by not appearing to use its office for self-aggrandisement and for “crushing opposition” for its own sake.
    The BLP’s PR must counter the claims that a 30-0 Parliament is undemocratic and must demonstrate how it has enlarged and safeguarded democracy despite winning all the seats. Unfortunately, a “snap” election, may be just the kind of action which may confirm the self-interested “dictatorship” narrative.
    The BLP must therefore “soften its political image” and assuage embryonic public concerns. Conversely, and this is the easier task, it must show itself to be the more mature and “professional” unit and the “safer pair of hands” in terms of policy responses to the present challenges, and its programme for a post-COVID world.
    The years 2021-2023 will therefore determine, not a BLP victory, but whether the BLP can repeat its 2018 performance. For the DLP, it will determine if they can, once again become a viable party.
    Tennyson Joseph is a political scientist at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, specialising in regional affairs.

    Source: Nation

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