56 responses to “Reverend Guy Hewitt, it is official!”

1. 

   angela cox

   July 6, 2021 at 5:47 pm

   
   

   https://www.facebook.com/246784233190/posts/10158650809668191/

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2. 

   angela cox

   July 9, 2021 at 5:09 pm

   
   

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3. 

   David

   July 11, 2021 at 6:01 am

   
   

   Barrow’s invaluable precedent
   By Ezra Alleyne Because I am aware that for some extraordinary reason the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) always runs into an orgy of self-inflicted problems during the first part of the calendar year, my ears were pricked.
   I recall the no-confidence motion filed June 1994, the constitutional changes produced in early July 1974, the famous “adamantine” speech of May 18, also of 1994, not to mention news of going to the International Monetary Fund in January 1991.
   True to form, earlier this year, life in George Street was ambling along, and then, just so, the name of Errol Barrow was thrown into the melting pot and a leadership war was on. Superficial statements were being made about his legacy and what he did for this country.
   But as the action played out, the gruesome events in Haiti last week reminded me of the most patriotic action of Barrow as Prime Minister. Yet nary a pretender to his legacy spoke a word thereon this week, but I will.
   Accepted loss
   In September of 1976, Barrow accepted his loss of that election with grace and dignity. He cemented for Barbadians the concept of the smooth uncontroversial handover of power. As it was his first post-Independence loss of an election, the precedent was crucial. He went into Opposition, and after a recharging of his batteries at an American university as visiting professor, he returned to Parliament in Opposition for nine years.
   Please think on Barrow’s patriotism as you read the quotation below.
   Georges Bidault, a former prime minister of France, once famously said: “The good or bad fortune of a nation depends on three factors: its constitution, the way the constitution is made to work, and the respect it inspires.”
   Barrow in 1976 made sure the Constitution worked in the way it was made to work. He ensured, by example, that it inspired respect. We must not take
   our good fortune for granted.
   Early leaders have a signal responsibility, and Barrow understood and discharged his primary duty to this country in an exemplary manner.
   But to truly appreciate Barrow and his contribution to the DLP, one would have to examine the well-known aspects of his early history. Volunteering to join the Royal Air Force was not his only option. He had been awarded a scholarship to study classics at Codrington but opted for public service. He was 20 then.
   On his return to Barbados, in 1950 he threw in his lot with the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and worked for the noble cause of freeing us from the stranglehold of colonialism.
   Having won the St George seat for the BLP in 1951, he lost it in the 1956 election. He remained outside Parliament between 1956 and 1958, from all accounts faithful to the new DLP and its new leadership and toiling in the vineyards.
   Party loyalty
   He disagreed with the pace of development of Sir Grantley Adams but he certainly learnt the rudiments of party loyalty from his days spent with the BLP.
   Having been identified very early on as having leadership potential, Barrow never found himself attacking the new DLP party leader between 1958 and 1961 after he returned to Parliament. No, he served faithfully under Sir Theodore Brancker.
   In fact, his classic break with the BLP is recorded in the annals of the House of Assembly. He stated his disagreement on April 14, 1955, broke with the BLP and within two weeks formed the DLP.
   This entire country owes Barrow an immense debt of gratitude. The BLP, his first political party, recognises his national contribution. It was the BLP, after all, who returned to power seven years after his death in 1987 and erected a statue in his honour, appropriately in Independence Square, the venue of his seminal “Mirror Image” speech. During that seven-year period I ask, “What were
   the Dems waiting for?”
   His work after 1976 devoted to enhancing DLP headquarters at George Street is better recounted by others, but it emphasises his humility and his capacity for labouring in the vineyard and for exhibiting true party loyalty.
   The truth is that Barrow, as I have already said, is one of my heroes. One of his diehard supporters corralled me in the supermarket last week and expressed her 70-something-year-old view that Elsa was Barrow’s expression of concern with current happenings in his party.
   She swears a spiritual connection with him ever since she fell outside Kampala and he helped her to her feet.
   Yet she is very proud of his loyalty to the party through thick and thin and is planning to raise the roof in August.
   Ezra Alleyne is an attorney and a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly.

   Source: Nation

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4. 

   Donna

   July 11, 2021 at 6:31 am

   
   

   It is reported that Barrow decided his loss may have been a good thing.

   Perhaps he recognised he needed a reminder that he served at the people’s pleasure.

   All politicians have a tendency to get too big for their boots if they get too comfortable in office.

   One thing we know is – power tends to corrupt. One saying that has been proven over and over. We may get tired of hearing it but we forget it at our peril.

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5. 

   David

   July 11, 2021 at 6:34 am

   
   

   In any job there is a tendency for complacency to set in after 5 or 10 years (?) or for gaps in skill sets to be exposed because of the fast moving environment. The job of a politician can be no different. The power of recall is important if we are serious about reform to the governance system.

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6. 

   David

   July 20, 2021 at 4:58 am

   
   

   DLP race heats up
   by ANTOINETTE CONNELL antoinetteconnell@nationnews.com
   THE POLITICAL BATTLE between attorney Verla De Peiza and Reverend Guy Hewitt to lead the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is picking up pace.
   Over the weekend, Hewitt, who was late out of the blocks, managed to secure backing from four of six constituency branches, but in some cases De Peiza’s name also went forward, heightening anticipation about the election at the party’s annual conference next month.
   The weekend meetings were pushed past the usual deadline due to the passage of, and destruction inflicted by, Hurricane Elsa at the start of the month.
   In order to get on the ballot, candidates must be proposed, seconded and have at least ten
   people vote for them, meaning that more than one name can be sent forward for the presidency, as occurred with some of the other branches.
   Hewitt, who initially rejected the notion of running for the post, said this weekend’s turn of events did not bear out the notion that there was unanimous support for one person.
   “I feel that we are now going to have a strong and competitive race for the presidency. I would ask the executive of the DLP to ensure that it is a transparent process and that all the candidates or voters will have confidence in the process and the outcome. That would allow us to rally around whomever the leader is and go forward united to deal with the national race, which is really my focus and must be priority,” he told the DAILY NATION yesterday.
   The would-be newcomer to elective politics is yet to state which constituency he has an interest in representing. So far, 26 of the 30 constituencies have ratified candidates, with 18 of them publicly named. De Peiza has switched from Christ Church West, where she was defeated in 2018, to St Lucy.
   While going through the list of nominations yesterday, De Peiza said: “I will give you the unvarnished truth because Bajans are tired of slick and just want people to be straight with them.”
   She reported that on Sunday, St James Central, Christ Church East, Christ Church South, St Michael West, St Michael East and St Philip North met, with Christ Church South and St Michael West giving unanimous support to Hewitt, while St Philip North and St Michael East also gave him their nod.
   Previously, De Peiza’s
   name alone was sent through for St Lucy and St Michael Central with 24 and 23 votes, respectively, Christ Church West Central (17), Church East Central (15), St Michael North (12) and St James North (13).
   Both names have been submitted from the Christ Church East, St Michael East and St John branches.
   “This is unnecessary because none of this factors into the hundreds that are going to turn up at annual conference to vote. The name is already on the ballot. This is only about getting on the ballot; nothing more at this stage,” De Peiza explained.
   When questioned about whether he had his eyes on a possible constituency, Hewitt responded: “One election at a time. I am focused on the presidency and, as I have said before, the constituency representatives have gone through a democratic
   process and I abide by transparent process.”
   The Anglican cleric said the outcome of the presidency “would allow us to rally around whomever the leader is and go forward united to deal with the national race, which is really my focus and must be priority”.
   The 66-year-old party was wiped out in the 2018 General Election without gaining a seat in Parliament.
   DLP acting general secretary Damien Griffith said the battle was shaping up to produce an energised annual conference.
   He added the challenge was nothing new and recalled the David Thompson/ Branford Taitt showdown, and later the Thompson/Clyde Mascoll contest.
   “I’m seeing participation levels that I have not seen in a long time,” he said.

   Source: Nation

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