Difficult Conversations – Mene, mene

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Submitted by Grenville Phillips, President of Solutions Barbados

The word among those who claim to know, is that the BLP will win a sizable majority on Wednesday’s Election Day.  Across Barbados, there is a sea of red posters that appear to support that view.

The established media are playing their normal role by suggesting that a BLP result is obvious, and the only unknown is how little the number of successful DLP candidates will be.  I am hearing different words.  They start like this.

MENE, MENE.

Mene: By forcing Barbados into a Republic, without the peoples’ consent, the BLP administration has come to an end.

Tekel:  By formally establishing thrones over Barbados for every demon under heaven, the BLP administration has been weighed in the balances and found wanting.

Peres:  For discriminatingly dividing Barbadians into vaccinated and unvaccinated people, the new Government will be a coalition of several political parties – that will have to learn to work together.

START RIGHT.

The BLP administration started in the most excellent manner.  They promised Barbadians that all ideas must contend.  So impressed were we by this refreshing promise of leadership, that we laid our political swords at the feet of our political competitors.

We made ourselves available to be deployed to fight the enemies of Barbados outside of a general election season.

END WRONG.

The BLP’s promise of allowing all ideas to contend would consistently be broken.  That resulted in a absence of any balance, to the worst possible economic advice that the BLP continually received – and tragically for us, accepted.

Barbadians are encouraged to vote for Solutions Barbados Candidates, and Solutions Barbados Endorsed Candidates.  The list of Solutions Barbados Candidates in this General Election, who are all WEALTH CREATORS, are:

  1. Ms Jacqueline Alleyne in St Andrew
  2. Mr Fallon Best in Bridgetown
  3. Mr Robert Toussaint in St Michael Central
  4. Ms Angela Edey in St Michael West-Central
  5. Ms Patricia Cox in St Michael South
  6. Ms Victorine Wilson in St Michael West
  7. Mr Kenneth Lewis in Christ Church West-Central
  8. Ms Susan Corbin in Christ Church East
  9. Mr Ronald Lorde in St Philip South, and
  10. Ms Karina Goodridge in St Philip West.

ENDORSED CANDIDATES.

The growing list of Solutions Barbados Endorsed Candidates, who have also agreed to immediately revoke the Charter, and allow Barbadians to consent, or not, to a Republic in a referendum within 3 months, follow.

  • St George North – Ms Melissa Taitt
  • St George South – Ms Alison Weekes
  • St Joseph – Mr Antonio Gittens
  • St Thomas – Mr Philip Catlyn
  • St James Central – Joseph Jordan
  • St Michael South-East – Patrick Tannis
  • St Michael West-Central – Andrew Cave
  • Christ Church South – Donald Leacock
  • St Philip North – Omar Smith

All candidates and Solutions Barbados policies are described in SolutionsBarbados.com

Grenville Phillips II is the President of Solutions Barbados. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com

19 thoughts on “Difficult Conversations – Mene, mene”


  1. EBC gets legal thumbs-up

    However, lawyer files injunction to have poll called off

    by BARRY ALLEYNE barryalleyne@nationnews.com
    BARBADIANS who will be in isolation due to a positive COVID-19 diagnosis will not be allowed to vote tomorrow.
    After almost two weeks of back and forth, chairman of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC), Queen’s Counsel Leslie Haynes, confirmed yesterday the entity received a legal review on the matter, and it had been determined that those self-isolating or patients of isolation facilities remain prohibited from visiting polling stations.
    But that could all change today when a lawsuit to prevent the election is heard in the High Court. Attorney and social activist Lalu Hanuman said he had filed an injunction for an emergency hearing to have the election called off.
    He applied on behalf of Philip Catlyn, of the Barbados Sovereignty Party, for a judicial review of the use of the presidential prerogative to dissolve Parliament and the issuing of the electoral writs, during a pandemic, and with the resultant disenfranchisement of thousands of electors.
    “The right to vote is a fundamental human right that many have fought and died for over many centuries. We have to protect it,” the attorney said. “It’s not a criticism of the Prime Minister, for whom I voted in 2018 and also spoke on the BLP’s [Barbados Labour Party] platform for and canvassed for,” he added.
    In a televised press conference yesterday, however, Haynes said the EBC could only work within the confines of the laws of Barbados.

    The legal opinion and confirmation could mean that thousands will miss out on their right to vote. In Barbados, that number is larger than the number of voters in some constituencies.
    Yesterday, Ministry of Health statistics showed that 5 512 people were in isolation up to Sunday. That could change by 6 a.m. tomorrow when polling stations open, since the number fluctuates every day depending on new infections discovered and how many people are released after completing tenday isolation monitored by health officials.
    “The role and function of the Electoral & Boundaries Commission is the administration and conduct of free and fair elections. The commission carries out that function in accordance with the laws of Barbados. The commission does not make laws, neither can the commission change any laws. It can only operate within the confines and boundaries of those laws,” said Haynes.
    He added the reason COVID-19-positive citizens are prevented from voting on polling day is solely because of the health directives imposed under the Emergency Management Act, which clearly prohibit those people from leaving isolation “for any reason”.
    “The commission is therefore bound by that law, and until lawmakers amend that law to allow those people to leave isolation to vote on polling day, the commission can only advise the public accordingly.”
    Almost two weeks ago during a press conference, head of the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit, Ronald Chapman, had said moving away from isolation or quarantine was a breach of the emergency directives, but deputy chairman of the EBC, Queen’s Counsel Hal Gollop, had indicated that despite that information, the commission should receive a written legal opinion from its legal team.
    “I can assure you that the EBC is relying on the opinion given to it by its legal counsel of over 40 years,” Haynes stressed yesterday.
    He added that all EBC staff at polling stations would be following protocols provided by the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit. All staffers will be wearing masks and face shields, and polling booths will be sanitised before and after voters enter and exit. A large number of pencils have also been sourced, and can also be re-sanitised if needed, the chairman also confirmed.
    “We will be following those protocols to the letter,” he noted, while revealing that staffers will not have to touch identification cards. Where possible, all people entering polling stations will be sanitised and have their temperatures checked.

    Source: Nation

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  2. Lawsuit filed to stop the election
    by HEATHER-LYNN EVANSON heatherlynevanson@nationnews.com
    WITH LESS THAN 24 HOURS before Barbadians go to the polls, a candidate has mounted a legal challenge to the 2022 General Election on behalf of those confined with COVID-19.
    St Thomas hopeful Philip Nathanial Catlyn, of the Barbados Sovereignty Party (BSP), has engaged attorney and civil activist Lalu Hanuman in seeking a restraining order against the holding of the elections until “the disenfranchisement of thousands of electors who are in quarantine due to the zoonotic COVID-19 viral pandemic is resolved beforehand”.
    The matter has been filed with a certificate of urgency and Hanuman is hopeful it will be heard sometime today.
    “I have filed an application on behalf of Philip Catlyn, of the Barbados Sovereignty Party (BSP), for a judicial review of the use of the Presidential Prerogative in [The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason’s] dissolving of Parliament and the issuing of the electoral writs, during a zoonotic pandemic, and with the resultant disenfranchisement of thousands of electors,” Hanuman told the DAILY NATION yesterday afternoon.
    “The right to vote is a fundamental human right that many have fought and died for over many centuries. We have to protect it,” he said.
    However, the attorney stressed the suit was not a “criticism of the Prime Minister for whom I voted in 2018 and also spoke on the BLP’s [Barbados Labour Party] platform for and canvassed for”.
    But he added: “Now that we are a republic, we need to develop jurisprudence around presidential powers. This matter provides that rare opportunity. I have deliberated on it extensively. It is a fundamental human rights issue, so I ultimately had no choice.”
    Lateness of the suit
    Hanuman was, however, candid about the timing of the suit but added injunctive relief had been granted in similar situations elsewhere.
    “But for the time issue, there is a very strong case,” he said.
    The suit is arguing the President’s dissolution of Parliament last December 27, and the issuing of election writs, was unauthorised, contrary to law and illegal; arbitrary, unreasonable, irrational, irregular and an improper exercise of discretion; that it was capricious, erroneous, an excess of jurisdiction, ultra vires and an abuse of power, and that it was in conflict with Section 6 of the Representation Of The People Act.
    Catlyn, in his affidavit, noted: “I am making this application now as the disenfranchisement of thousands of electors only recently became apparent. I was hoping that one of the established parties would have made this application despite the exceedingly minuscule available window since the abrupt announcement of the General Election on December 27, 2021, and the belated public knowledge of disenfranchisement.
    “Alternatively, I was hoping that wise judgement would have prevailed and at the eleventh hour changes would have been made to the COVID-19 protocols, along the lines done in The Bahamas for their September 16, 2021 General Election, to allow electors, who are in quarantine due to the COVID-19 viral pandemic, to be able to vote, albeit this would not be the most satisfactory of situation”.
    The BSP St Thomas candidate claims that when President Dame Sandra acceded to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley’s request to dissolve Parliament, she failed to adequately consult with the Electoral & Boundaries Commission (EBC), the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit or the Chief Medical Officer to ascertain if Section 39, which states that ‘all persons voting as electors . . . shall do so in person at the polling station allotted to them under the election rules’, could be safely implemented during the current pandemic.
    Catlyn is also arguing the President failed to consult on whether it would be advisable to hold a constitutionally unnecessary election during a pandemic given that the dissolved Parliament still had “another 18 months of life”.
    Noting that the EBC had confirmed people in quarantine and isolation would not be allowed to vote, Catlyn said this meant thousands of Barbadians were disenfranchised.
    He added Election Day also presented the possibility of being a “super spreader with a concomitant cost in lives, burdens on the health care system, economy, loss of education as schools remain closed for longer and general social upheaval”.
    The candidate noted it was also a human rights issue since the right to vote was a fundamental human right.
    He added he was hoping to prevent a super spreader event and to protect the Barbadian economy and health service from a spike in COVID-19 cases which, he fears, will result from the elections.
    The suit is asking for an injunction prohibiting the holding of the elections or a declaration that given the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters, that they will not be free and fair as no provision had been made for them to exercise their franchise.

    Source: Nation

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  3. It’s unfortunate some can’t vote! Sinckler weighs in on those in isolation
    by CAROL MARTINDALE carolmartindale@nationnews.com
    FORMER MINISTER OF FINANCE Chris Sinckler says it is “unfortunate” that those who are isolated as a result of the COVID-19 virus will not be able to vote tomorrow.
    Sinckler, who served in the last Democratic Labour Party administration that lost at the polls in 2018, said while the pandemic caught everyone off guard, officials should have moved faster to find ways to ensure these individuals could cast their ballot.
    “In some countries they were able to deal with that. I think we were a little slow. Perhaps we ought to have found ways to ensure that if you have people who are infected, that they will be able to cast a vote because in a country there are certain inalienable rights that people have. Some are entrenched by the Constitution. Some are put in law, some are considered very sacred and sacrosanct. I think that it is quite unfortunate that a lot of those persons, and the numbers are climbing, are not going to be able to vote,” he said during an interview prior to yesterday’s press conference held by the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC).
    Based on the latest numbers released by health officials, there were 102 people in isolation facilities and 5 512 in home isolation as a result of COVID-19.
    Must be prepared
    “You must always be prepared for an election. The Electoral and Boundaries Commission is clearly not in a position to put things in place. There are legal things that would have to be changed because laws dictate that voting takes place in public at a designated place. So given all of that and the Prime Minister has called an election, it is unfortunate those persons who are not going to be able to vote. But I don’t think their disenfranchisement, so to speak, is deliberate. It is a function of the circumstances we currently find ourselves in. It is unfortunate,” he added.
    Sinckler said the EBC should, along with the new administration, start to put things in place “for any and all of these eventualities going forward, including voting by ballot” so that circumstances of this nature could be dealt with.
    “There is technology, so set to work and ensure that something like this does not happen. That is important, between now and whenever another General Election is called. So don’t let us have another election, in the case of a by-election, and you have the same thing coming back. Get the things in place and get them in place immediately as this process is concluded.”


    Source: Nation

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  4. Simply put, people not being allowed to vote is wrong. However, I am unimpressed by this last minute continuation of doing nothing by now doing something.

    Anyone with a modicum of commonsense knew that when the ECB promised to study it and get back to you that nothing would change. And, now, others waiting until the very last moment to go the courts is the same useless ploy. Go wash your leg, that is not rain.

    (Bear in mind that not all 5K will be voters)
    I have already pointed out that as a proportion of the population 5K is the equivalent of 6.7 M in the US. Do you know that more than 40 states each have a population of less than 7 million? Can you imagine a single state not being able to vote in a presence risk election?
    Look at the bottom of this page and tell me how many constituencies had significantly more than 5000 voting in 2018 -my bias puts it a 0.
    http://www.caribbeanelections.com/bb/elections/bb_results_2018.asp

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  5. They have mastered the art of doing nothing by appearing to frantically do something.

    The art of delay and doing nothing by telling you that they will study it and get back to you.

    The art of doing nothing by kindly explaining that we are fully prepared for this situation the next time it happens.

    Have a great day Barbados.

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  6. Sorry but Omar Smith is lacking in BASIC MANNERS. Cannot vote for that.

    My son walked the dog up to Bayley’s School on Sunday night and saw only a handful of people in attendance.

    However, I thank him for the wonderful music I heard from my Garden of Peace. It added to my peace.

    Beres Hammond and Barrington Levy always hit the spot!

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  8. WITH ALL DUE RESPECTECT GPII, I DO NOT HONESTLY THINK THAT YOU CAN ACCURATELY APPLY YOUR QUOTATION FROM DANIEL CHAPTER 5 TO THIS SITUATION,,,AT LEAST NOT YET.

    WHEREAS WE MAY ALL HAVE OUR SPECULATIVE IDEATIONS ABOUT THE POLITICAL LEADERSHIP OF THE COUNTRY, IT MAY BE A LITTLE EARLY TO FIRMLY SUGGEST THAT THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL, EVEN IF YOU PERCEIVE THAT PERSONEL AKIN TO ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES IV IS ACTIVELY IN PLACE

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  9. The BU Clock says 14 days to go
    I will carry on with 1 day to go count
    and will start counting it by the hour
    as it is now time to start the pithy soundbites
    and takeover Barbados and the Ganja Business
    When I become leader I will stop the slavery of strong black men
    carrying tourists luggage and will make tourists carry their own luggage
    They say blog moderators suffer from PTS shock

    No Friend Of Mine, Keith Hudson

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  10. David,

    The man walked into my driveway, spoke to two people he KNEW did not live here and ignored ME, the owner of the property upon which he stood.

    Normally I would have interrupted and pointedly introduced myself but I thought he was some idiot not worth the effort in those twenty seconds.

    Then I asked the two guys who he was and what his invitation to Bayley’s School was about. I was struck dumb when they told me.

    I don’t think I am overreacting.

    Who the RH does he think he is coming to MY HOME and ignoring me?????????

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    • That was rude. We have to give Grenville points for his spiritedness but voters will not take SB seriously if the party is widely perceived as a one man operation.


  11. Keeping it random.
    Barbados is a Republic.
    I suspect on basis of statistical probability Judges in Court will find most Covid non-voters will have voted for BLP.

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  12. “We have to give Grenville points for his spiritedness but voters will not take SB seriously if the party is widely perceived as a one man operation.”

    World Governments lie so much about wars etc that people do not trust or believe them when they try to help people, hence the Covid conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxers, conservative religious nuts. The Constitution and the Satanic throne theory is a corker.

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  13. @Grenville Phillips “Tekel: By formally establishing thrones over Barbados for every demon under heaven.”

    Can you explain when and how demons were formally established over Barbados and also and where this happened?

    I was under the distinct impression that our President, Prime Minister and every elected member of the last Parliament were like you and me ordinary human Christians.

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  14. @Grenville Phillips “Peres: For discriminatingly dividing Barbadians into vaccinated and unvaccinated”

    The Barbados government has NOT discriminatingly divided Bajans. Some Bajans have chosen to be vaccinated. Some Bajans have chosen not be be vaccinated. Nobody forced either group. This is the TRUTH.

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  16. Me too.

    We are ALL human, sometimes wise and loving

    Sometimes foolish and mean spirited.

    That doesn’t make us devil worshippers.

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  17. It is my wish that people who profess to be Christians desist from telling political lies, in fct all lies. It is not becoming of a Christian to lie.

    And the same wish for Muslims, Rastafarians, Jews, Hindus, Agnostics and Unbelievers.

    This political lying is just unbecoming.

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