DLP in Drift Mode

A week after the snap general election and no surprise, Prime Minister Mottley continues to suck the air out of the local, regional and to a lesser extent the international news space. As if a second 30-0 shellacking for opposition parties wasn’t enough and a new look Cabinet, her recommendation to appoint teenager Khaleel Kothdiwala to the Upper House has blown up news streams on traditional and social media.

An observation of the Barbados landscape in recent years has been the dominant personality of Mia Mottley as leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). In contrast the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) -the other major political party- competed with late Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and of recent Verla De Peiza who both possess seemingly introverted personalities. 

The blogmaster does not have to analyze numbers to understand the psyche of the Bajan voter. We prefer alpha personalities to lead the country. Stuart through happenstance was an outlier who benefited from a sympathy vote commingled with the cuhdere mentality of Barbadians that a government deserves a second term. We can only speculate if the late David Thompson would have been able to overcome the stink of CLICO to breathe fire into the party.

Of immediate concern to civic minded citizens has been the inability of a political opposition to favourably appeal to the electorate in two recent general elections -not to forget the by election in St. George North. Political parties although private entities decisions made have national significance. The resignation of Verla De Peiza with immediate effect has ensured the DLP’s voice will be less credible in the Barbados space for at minimum the next three months – a special conference is scheduled to filled the leadership role in the party. It does not help with the rebuild of DLP’s image that the interim President is Steve Blackett, a member of Stuart’s Cabinet and willing participant on the platform of that infamous Waterford Stadium political meeting. 

A surface scan of DLP actors serves up slim choices to lead the party at a critical juncture. The task to rebuild the party and at the same time be a strident opposition voice is a gargantuan one. On the weekend a suggestion was made by Hartley ‘Kingmaker’ Henry the DLP should look to the diaspora for candidates to lead. On the current political trajectory unless there is a catastrophic occurrence the DLP can anticipate another defeat in five years.

On the assumption the DLP will struggle to regain relevance in the eyes of the electorate in five years, what does it portend? A splinter of the party if old heads continue to make it difficult for the DLP to reimagine itself? A credible third party made up of disaffected members from the BLP and third parties?

Interesting times ahead.

There is the national debate about the new Constitution to come. It is evident based on the results of two recent general elections, there is a lacuna to be addressed.

208 thoughts on “DLP in Drift Mode


  1. Ensuring democracy not eroded

    By Ezra Alleyne

    Recent political history tells me that Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is prepared to be kinder to the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) than the voters of Barbados have been.
    On two occasions now, three and a half years apart, with a high poll in 2018 and a lower poll in 2022, the voters of this country have deemed the DLP unworthy of a single seat in the Lower House of Parliament.
    This state of affairs speaks of a fierce determination of the electorate, howsoever configured, to send a strong message to the DLP that it has not learnt any lessons from the defeat of 2018 and that it does not deserve, in 2022, even a single seat in Parliament.
    Arising out of the current can of concentrated conflict confronting the Dems, the Prime Minister, who had been falsely and malevolently branded by the DLP as displaying dictatorial tendencies, raises the first bars of a public debate designed to safeguard our democracy and to protect the rights of the self-same DLP as the party securing the second highest number of votes.
    Lightning strikes twice
    Lightning having struck twice, this prime ministerial suggestion, first raised in 2018, is repeated. On the first occasion, Bishop Joseph Atherley rescued the DLP from the kind of loose talk that sinks ships, by crossing the floor and morphing from BLP member into the Leader of the Opposition.
    That singular act confirmed the temporary irrelevance of that party, which, for the first time since its formation in1955, found itself without a single seat in the Parliament of this country to which its earliest flag bearers had contributed so much. Now history repeats itself.
    In our system of governance, Prime Ministers have a duty to party, but a superior duty to the Constitution and to the country. As the highest elected political official, the protection of the Constitution is of great moment to Prime Ministers.
    I argued this point with Sir James Tudor in the pages of the Nation newspaper back in 1989 when Richie Haynes of the National Democratic Party, with three other parliamentarians, petitioned the Governor General to oust Henry Forde, David Simmons, and Owen Arthur as the Official Opposition.
    Hot political issue
    If the correct view is that the head of state is the decision-maker in this present imbroglio, then the choice of those two DLP senators becomes an intensely hazardous political issue, given the tortured state of the DLP, whose political leader is yet to be established.
    The head of state in our kind of system as the dignified part of
    the Government is not to become embroiled in the partisan arena of the political dogfights.
    But the current provisions of our Constitution, in my view, inadvertently places the President right into the very cauldron of the political controversy. Even more heat could be created if, on the exercise of the presidential discretion, the two choices do not fit within the “four corners” of the views of the DLP leadership such as now exists.
    Talks, albeit discreetly so, to find appropriate amendments to cure the situation are needed. I noticed that the learned Attorney General, in another part of the Press, is making the matter pellucidly clear by saying that there should be talks between the head of state, the Government and the DLP to resolve this matter.
    The DLP appears fixated in another direction. The Reverend David Durant is quoted in a newspaper article as advising his colleagues not to participate in the current Parliament through taking up any seats in the Senate.
    I expect that this advice will be ignored. The reverend may well be a king, but even in the land of the DLP they cannot be so blind as to anoint the goodly cleric as King.
    Good prime ministers must have 20/20 vision to reflect on future matters before these matters become history. Think on that for a moment. The Prime Minister was right to raise the issue for public information. And we must now deal with this problem. I support the idea that an amendment of Section 75 is the orderly solution.
    It cannot be in this country’s long-term interest for the DLP to be excluded, once again, from the lawmaking table in our Parliament. The discussions must discreetly take place now that the issues are known. And the DLP must quickly put its house in order for this situation would hardly have resurfaced if that had been done.

    Ezra Alleyne is an attorney and a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly.

    Source: Nation


  2. This PM continues to make political decisions hell bent on keeping the country divided
    This is a serious character flaws that fails to address and is not in allignment with good governance
    Yesterday Tump held a meeting with his loyal supporters in tow
    Besides doing his usual skits about Biden he read a story about a woman giving aid to a sick snake
    After the snake recovered the snake bit the lady
    I couldn’t help but remember the many stories told of Trump.helping people then turned around and disadvantage them and those who who he had helped and also did wrong turned on him
    I say the above that unless one give with an open heart the image one tries to present of one self might be one like the snake albeit also be the truthfulness of the real character that lives within


  3. Ezra Alleyne Zooms in on part of the story
    But leaves out the importance of doing things right in order to get the right result
    PM steps out front to present an image of being good
    Meanwhile the Constituion does not instruct the PM in the order as the image she wants to present to the people
    The PM constantly present a character flaw of deceitfulness
    This time that deceit rubs against the highest law of the land called the Constituion
    Shameful


  4. DavidJanuary 30, 2022 7:58 AM

    You are confusing political posturing with law. You et al are so easily distracted.
    Xxxxx
    So. what is the law
    Who is doing the posturing
    Maybe u should sit on the fence a little longer and wait till.sunrise


  5. Mottley postures
    Trump postures
    Both seem to be cut from the same political cloth
    Mottley throws red herrings
    Trump throws red meat
    Trump.uses his wealth to take the law of the land to court
    Mottley uses her power to undermine the Constitution and expects the AG to agree
    So what is the story snakes using power and wealth while presenting an image of doing what is right for the country


  6. Either govt.wants to do what is right as directed by the Constitution or govt intends to pursue a political.path of smoke and mirrors and tinkering
    Xxx
    The Young lady who.was underlooked after much hard work after giving a voice of concern for the youth and other organization must be feeling a sense of disappointment
    Here was an opportunity for the PM to present a person whose actions speaks towards her commitment
    However the PM rather present to the people a young man who does not meet the criteria as directed by the Constitution and a person whose only claim to fame is widely known as being a mouth piece for the blp
    Lol


  7. “But the current provisions of our Constitution, in my view, inadvertently places the President right into the very cauldron of the political controversy. “(Ezra Alleyne”
    Ezra Alleyne should be ashamed to write such a damaging and nasty political piece of anti- constitutional mis information. Talking about “ inadvertently ““ including powers that are given to the President.
    He really cannot stoop much lower.
    Pure pro- Mottley BS. The damn AG should not be in any cabinet in that office.
    The man has failed at every legal argument he has put forward to defend the government.,That’s why there is widespread support for Caswell Franklyn
    Marshall is a complete failure, just like the one before him.


  8. Somehow the “learned Attorney General” is always in the middle of some chaos when it comes to legal opinions as I’m sure I heard the PM say that she received a legal opinion from the AG that supported the selection of two Senators from the DLP (The opposition party that polled the largest number of votes) there was no caveat, no mention of the President’s role, it was a fait accompli. Now the whole nation knows better, and everyone interested in the welfare of the country should carry a copy of the Constitution with them to double check any advice the “learned Attorney General” proffers because if this was baseball, he would be batting .0000.

    Does anyone have any “L’s” left over from student driver days? Someone could use two to adorn the suit that he wears in public.


  9. Losing candidate challenges ruling

    Attorney for Sovereignty Party’s Catlyn files appeal
    by HEATHER-LYNN EVANSON heatherlynevanson@nationnews.com

    BARBADOS SOVEREIGNTY PARTY candidate Philip Catlyn is not taking his loss at the High Court lightly.
    The man who ran unsuccessfully in St Thomas has filed an appeal challenging Justice Cicely Chase’s decision on the eve of the recently concluded General Election. Her night-time ruling paved the way for the poll as she threw out Catlyn’s challenge to holding it during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Catlyn, through his attorney and civil activist Lalu Hanuman, had sought a restraining order against the holding of the election until “the disenfranchisement of thousands of electors who are in quarantine due to the zoonotic COVID-19 viral pandemic is resolved beforehand”.
    The suit had challenged President the Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason’s dissolution of Parliament last December 27, and the issuing of election writs. It claimed the act was unauthorised, contrary to law and illegal; arbitrary, unreasonable, irrational, irregular and an improper exercise of discretion; capricious, erroneous, an excess of jurisdiction, ultra vires and an abuse of power, and in conflict with Section 6 of the Representation Of The People Act.
    Justice Chase, however, declared that since the main issue related to the action of the President in following the recommendation of the Prime Minister to dissolve Parliament, it represented a controversy as outlined by Section 36.1 of the Election Offences And Controversies Act.
    She said as a result, the matter ought to have been properly presented to the Election Court for determination.
    Justice Chase held that the action had been incorrectly filed and refused to order any injunctive relief.
    However, just over a week after the Barbados Labour Party romped home with a 30-0 victory at the polls, Hanuman revealed he had filed an appeal on behalf of Catlyn.
    “Jurisprudentially it needed to be done in order to challenge the High Court decision, or otherwise it would have become a precedent fettering future litigation,” he explained.
    Most unfortunate
    “It is most unfortunate that we have had to go down this road as a Court of Appeal decision in Mr Catlyn’s favour, at this late stage, will be more disruptive than had it been made before the election.
    “If it is decided in my client’s favour, then Barbados will go back to the pre-December 27, 2021 status quo, constitutionally speaking. But of course we cannot go back to the pre-December 27, 2021 status quo as far as COVID-19 is concerned. That genie is now well out of the bag with doubling infection rates, as anticipated by Mr Catlyn in his judicial review application,” Hanuman declared.
    The attorney also noted
    that left unchallenged, the decision against Catlyn would expose him to “potentially hefty court costs, as [the President and the Attorney General] were represented by ten lawyers, including two Queen’s Counsel”.
    The appeal is arguing that the judge’s decision was erroneous in point of law; that it was erroneous in point of fact, and that the matter raises fundamental public interest issues.
    “On the very day that [Catlyn] filed his application for judicial review in the High Court, the Electoral and Boundaries Commission released information that they had taken legal advice which confirmed they were incapable of making any provision for voters who were in quarantine or in isolation as a result of the zoonotic COVID-19 virus,” the appeal read.
    The appeal further states that Catlyn had been “unfortunately vindicated in that as a direct result of the calling of the elections, there has been a predictable spike in infected persons with the COVID-19 virus. The General Elections has been a ‘super spreader’ event as [Catlyn] anticipated”.
    The appellant is therefore asking the court to find that Justice Chase’s decision was contrary to law, unreasonable in all the circumstances and/or void.
    No date has yet been set for hearing. Catlyn polled 98 votes to winner Cynthia Forde’s 2 971 in St Thomas. The Democratic Labour Party’s Dr Roderick Hinds amassed 625, while Independent Samuel Maynard got 88.

    Source: Nation


  10. A word to the DLP

    AS A YOUNG BANKER starting out in life, and as the world’s challenges confronted me, I reached for my wallet and extracted a poem that has kept me motivated ever since. It is called “Don’t quit”. The writer is unknown.
    “When the funds are low and the debts are high, rest if you must but do not quit.” These words have kept me motivated on many an occasion. There are now apropos to the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and their adherents.
    While I agree that the 30-0 is deserving and that the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Government has performed creditably, a one-sided Parliament should not be the best thing for Barbados even at this time. We saw it in the last administration. However, anger at what happened between 2008 and 2018 has not subsided and the appearance of those of that cabinet on the political platform was not the best thing. Even so there was no contrition or apology, an irritant to the electorate who did vote.
    Take courage
    Those new candidates that were bold enough to appear on the DLP platform should take courage in the words of the quoted poem. They now have perhaps five years to show that they can contribute positively to Barbados even in suggesting a meaningful way to help the country going forward, agreeing with the actions of the Government when those actions show progress.
    Many of the old die-hard supporters of the DLP have passed on and a younger crowd are the ones that suffered over the years from 2008. That is a whole generation, a substantial number. Analyse those past actions and make sure that what you now do is positive.
    The voting public can be fickle and you never know what action on the part of Government may anger the electorate in the coming years. “You may succeed with another blow.” You must be ready. And you can only be ready if you are seen to be ready. An about turn has happened in the past and it can happen again.
    It most likely will not be seen in the near coming months because the actions of Government and the challenges of Government are yet to be manifest, so there is time to, “When care is pressing you down a bit”, time to be introspective.
    If you analyse the changes in Government since 1939, you will see that sudden and unexpected changes in the behaviour of the public have triggered huge swings on the part of the voting public.
    I believe that the saying that an Ethiopian cannot change his colour now applies to most of the DLP cabinet of the past and any part that they should try to play should be in the background in support of the new names that may want to step
    forward.
    In the meantime it will suit any new hopefuls to concentrate their efforts on building a constituency base and getting themselves known in the community by house-to-house canvassing. This is hard work, but it will pay off in the long run.
    One of the areas on which hopeful candidates may concentrate is the work done (or not done) by the public sector institutions as they will be under immense pressure as funds generally will be scarce. While it is unlikely that DLP supporters will be appointed to boards, public disclosure of operations will dictate availability of information. New ideas of government to close the expected expenditure gap must be the subject of scrutiny.
    Awarding of contracts
    Another area of operations of government which DLP hopeful candidates will have to monitor closely will be the efforts of Government to award contracts for large new operations both locally and internationally. This is crucial as the way out now depends on the success of new projects.
    There is no room for error. Agitation for strikes where efforts to chart new paths are under consideration must be given the utmost scrutiny so as to allow a real period of time for Government projects to gestate.
    “Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide, hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit to his full height.” A little help from King Henry V’s speech to his soldiers. “Once more unto the breach.”
    You must realise that Government is treading a new path so far not seen in Barbados. As I said in my last article, we are launching out into the deep end as fishermen and we can come up with a shark or a ning-ning.

    Harry Russell is a banker. Email quijote70@gmail. com

    Source: Nation


  11. Every thing this PM as well as the AG has divided the country
    Unfortunately the dlp in house fighting has given way for this govt to score another victory
    Yes indeed Barbados is chartering new waters
    Waters that are thick.and muddy
    Waters that would find most barbadians without a life raft to cling to


  12. Art of Decanting (Bu comments need to be distilled by level headed facilitators)

    Barbados is slowly coming to term with it’s election results with a couple of ticklish tropes lingering regarding God and Constitution.

    All beings have masculine and feminine aspects within and God the Creator has both representations in many deities and esoteric existential schools of thought such as the spiritual energies of the Sun Stars and Heavens above is masculine while the grounding energies of Earth and Moon are feminine.
    God is the Creator of All in the Universe including feminine Mother Earth that gives birth to all life forms.
    People pray to the father or mother or both.

    Constitutions set forth structures of Government and Barbados is moving away from the British Royal Power system to a Republic System like USA and other places. In USA Senators and Presidents are elected, in UK the Lords (Senators) in the Second Chamber are chosen and the Crown (President) is the existing Monarch. The Barbados Constitution will need to be amended for it’s Republic moving on.


  13. “ It cannot be in this country’s long-term interest for the DLP to be excluded, once again, from the lawmaking table in our Parliament. “ ( Ezra Alleyne)
    In one breath Alleyne says that this is the second time the people have determined that the DLP should not be given not even get one seat.
    Now he comes with crocodile tears pretending that Barbados cannot survive without the DLP in Parliament . This is ludicrous , when in reality, Barbados is going to survive and just survived without the DLP in Parliament.
    The problem that Mottley, Marshall and Alleyne now have is that they cannot go above the President without amending the Constitution
    They cannot say that the PM stuck her feet in her mouth ; they cannot say that the AG gave the PM bad advice.
    Alert readers should avoid those acting as prosecutors on BU, and realise that Alleyne, Marshall and Mottley will not even mention Garth Paterson’s name nor Tricia Watson, who have objectively exposed this attempted Duopoly family sham , that was engineered by the PM.
    All the PM had to do was allow parliament to be properly constituted and use the two third majority to amend the Constitution to state clearly that the party getting the second highest number of votes but does not have a seat in Lower House will automatically be given two seats in the Upper House.
    Mottley has learnt , in the most embarrassing way , that not all”big works” have to “come through “ her.
    In other words , regardless of what the prosecutors on BU say , not even the PM
    Alleyne and the bungling AG are above the Constitution.
    Simple as that. In our Caribbean vernacular: Mottley try a ting and she failed. She is wasn’t trying to be magnanimous in the interest of the country she was simply trying to be a political Suki King.
    Peace


  14. @ David
    Respectfully, people like Alleyne is the reason, I don’t use the term yardfowl. I ate a lot of yardfowls growing up , and I still do , especially when I frequently travel , to other islands. Yardfowl is a delicacy.
    I don’t have to read Alleyne any more carefully than I read anybody else. This article is nothing more than a piece of propaganda . Alleyne knows the PM screwed up.
    Peace.


  15. “The problem that Mottley, Marshall and Alleyne now have is that they cannot go above the President without amending the Constitution”

    Barbados has a British legacy system where the Queen figurehead has been replaced by a President.
    Neither the Queen nor the President do any work, but authorises what PM does and Parliament verifies.
    Mia suggesting seats and seeking legal advice is par for the course and due process.


  16. Barbados Population 287,371
    UK Population 67.22 million
    US Population 329.5 million

    Clearly
    Barbados can design a simpler and more intuitive system of Government and Parliament Houses
    than UK/US as two examples due to its smaller population


  17. William January 31, 2022 8:27 AM
    well said, sane sensible and solid as usual
    we will soon now see the true Mugabe Muttley, a reincarnation of the man ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES also called EPIMANES A


  18. Angela Cox January 30, 2022 7:48 AM &January 30, 2022 7:54 AM

    I dont always agree with you, but, you are not always always wrong, and you are often very correct as in the above.
    Stick to your guns, and be true to your self and your convictions.
    You seem to have much more common sense, and more guts that your main protagonist here.


  19. “more guts that your main protagonist here.”

    that is a loaded phrase are you referring to Satan again as per your obsession like a bajan bitch


  20. Let govt and henchman carry on with their nefarious actions in deeds and words
    One day coming soon when wisdom takes over in the minds of the people
    They will.be hell to pay


  21. @ GP.
    Thank you. The truth hurts. This whole snafu could have been easily avoided. The first time the PM said she was going to do it Atherley stepped in and the crap was constitutionally avoided.
    On this occasion , she promoted the same crap knowing that she was wrong to do so in the first place. Mottley is no fool, she has sat in Parliament for nearly thirty years.
    The facts are the facts. This is pure BS that can only be resolved when Parliament is fully constituted to do the people’s. , not Mottley’s , business.
    That’s the position that I have chosen to take. As always, democracy and freedom of expression , guarantees or at the very least should guarantee, that everybody else have that right to disagree or agree.
    In the event that I am wrong , I would admit it and move on. I , long ago , before it I was deemed popular , decided I will be a lifetime learner. Never was afraid to be wrong and never will be but I’ll be damned , if I ever allow spurious and non factual bull shit by any politician to dazzle me. Even my dog does not accept bull shit from me and I certainly don’t from him.
    Peace


  22. For a Population of 300,000
    30 Seats / Constituencies is too much
    30 Senators is too much
    1 seat in both house should be held open for best losers
    in events like ties or slam dunks such as 15-15 or 30-0


  23. I am dumbfounded but not surprise when the political lens of this govt points in the direction of an.unsuspecting people who cannot separate the politics of self interest from good governance directed and written into the Constitution which serves as a protective and safety model for the national security of the country
    SMH


  24. @ David
    What in my post says that I do not. Or, do you mean only people of the lower social class and not the Alleyne’s , should be exposed as political charlatans.
    There is nothing personal here.
    I was at the very first speech, made by a young eloquent and obviously bright and smart Alleyne. Along the way, we have shared a conversation or two.
    However, it is dad to read how he is intellectually prostituting himself on the altar of his political party and lawyer.
    You ask for citizen involvement in my country. I am a citizen of at Barbados , who is involved.
    I am now trying very hard to determine that democracy is NOT under threat. Very hard.
    Peace


    • @William

      Ezra Alleyne is an unapologetic BLP supporter. Once you understand where he is coming everything he writes can be contextualized.


  25. @ David
    You keep asking me questions that I can’t answer or don’t have the answers for.
    I am dealing here with Barbados, Alleyne is only the Centre piece of my interpretations on this topic. Tomorrow he may write a piece with which I am in full agreement. It’s the same attitude I have to my PM; it’s the same attitude I had to Stuart and it was the same attitude I had to Haynes. Believe it or not it’s the same attitude I have to you.
    Now if that’s a bit difficult for you to swallow, I can only hope , that you at least , do not allow it to choke you.
    Peace:


  26. WILLIAM
    IN THE LITTLE SPHERE IN WHICH I INTERACT WITH OUR PEOPLE FROM AFAR ON ZOOM, AND HERE, WHAT I DEDUCE IS THAT OUR PEOPLE ARE GENERALLY NOT INTERESTED IN TRUTH OR WHAT IS RIGHT.

    WE TEND TO OPERATE IN CLIQUES AND SUPPORT AND DEFEND AND PROMOTE CLIQUE MEMBERS EVEN THOUGH SUCH MEMBERS ARE TYPICALLY MORONS, ARE LIMITED IN THIER ABILITIES, AND THUS HAVE A LIMIT THAT THEY CAN OFFER.
    IN ADDITION, IT IS NOTEWORTHY THAT THEY ARE INTERESTED MOSTLY IN SELF, AND MOTIVATED MOSTLY BY GREED POWER AND THIER AMBITION. THEY HAVE NO INTEREST IN SHARING ANYTHING

    THOSE WHO ARE LARGE AND IN CHARGE FOLLOW THIS PLOY, AND SINCE IN THE LAND OF THE BLIND ONE EYE MAN IS KING, TWO EYED MEN WITH SUPERIOR VISION ARE MOST UNWELCOMED AND NEVER ENTERTAINED AND LISTENED, BECAUSE TWO EYED MEN TEND TO UPSET THE APPLE CART.

    SENSIBLE MEN ENDOWED WITH TWO EYES WITH 20/20 VISION, EITHER
    JUST SHUT UP
    LEAVE THE ISLAND
    JUST MIND THEIR BUSINESS
    OR ROCK AND MOCK LIKE I DO HERE.

    FEW FIGHT, AS IT MAKES NO SENSE, AS IN A SMALL ISLAND THERE IS NO WHERE TO GO REALLY.
    WHEN YOU READ THE CONTENTS OF THE AVERAGE POSTS HERE FROM DAY TO DAY FROM YEAR TO YEAR, ONE SEES THAT THE PROVERBIAL WRITING IS ON THE WALL, AND REALIZE THAT IT IS DEFINITELY NOT GOING TO GET BETTER.

    MORE REALISTICALLY I AM HERE WATCHING WINDIES WOMEN PLAYING ON WILLOW CRICKET CHANNEL
    WALSH HAVE THEM TRIM AND FIT AS DENIS WAIGHT HAD THE MEN IN THE LATE 70’S AND THROUGH THE EARLY 90’S UNTIL LARA GOT RID OF HIM, BECAUSE LARA WAS ANTIOCHES-ESQUE AS MOST OF OUR DESTROYERS ARE

    HE IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF HOW SUBTLE MACHINATIONS DESTROY CONTEMPORARY CULTURES AND COUNTRIES…AS IS IS OCCURING IN BIM AND RIGHT HERE IN THIS RUM SHOP .


  27. @Skinner, I too had some yardfowl chicken nicely plucked after immersion in hot water and broiled nicely … after watching it scamper across the yard headless … (apologises for any sensibilities assaulted in this PC perfect world today) but brother I didn’t get the same bad taste as you did from that old fowl (respectfully said) above.

    He does not hide his partisan voice with the amazing “…the Prime Minister, who had been falsely and malevolently branded by the DLP as displaying dictatorial tendencies”. WHAT!

    But nothing wrong with being partisan and still being reasoned and practical… he is otherwise!

    When he says that the Atherley *singular act confirmed the temporary irrelevance of [the DLP] which, for the first time since its formation in 1955, found itself without a single seat in the Parliament of this country to which its earliest flag bearers had contributed so much” he is profoundly accurate.

    And too when he says “In our system of governance, Prime Ministers have a duty to party, but a superior duty to the Constitution and to the country.”

    That’s a truism clearly but must be repeated over and over. After the election is over the leader governs and leads the ENTIRE nation NOT her party supporters only !

    So when this long time BLPite opined that “If the correct view is that the head of state is the decision-maker in this present imbroglio, then the choice of those two DLP senators becomes an intensely hazardous political issue, given the tortured state of the DLP” why is that truism so tart of old fowl taste!

    If DLP don’t want to appear to be the recipient of any largesse that’s perfectly fine … the fact is that it’s irrefutable that the party has historically been a stupendous source of Bajan developmental policies. … The further fact that it has temporarily badly lost its way must be considered carefully as we look forward is what the man practically opines practically.

    Yes you call that duopoly hypocrisy or conspirac … and maybe you are quite right … but we are a small nation … no OTHER party exists @Skinner so we must be careful not discard too soon this sick one but find a way to nourish it back to health. If it’s too die because the internal ‘organs’ are too badly damaged then so be it but what’s wrong with keeping it alive until !

    Patterson’s piece was bang on as usual … as was Russell’s however I must believe that they all fully accept that MAM’s comment about getting a new mandate had NOTHING to do with the electorate writ large…. She clearly was speaking squarely to her dissenting internal ‘electors’ and of course she squashed them.

    The situation was perfectly setup for a group to break away a la Richie and be a torturous vocal opposition … nutting so.

    Anyhow, we can agree that Alleyne is part of your duopoly of fowls in de yard but it doesn’t mean that he still can’t cook into a good, palatable tasty stew tho.

    Lata


  28. “ GP
    Our approach, as is distinctly displayed here on BU, is the same , in the wider society. It’s political polarization. And the BLP and DLP, exploit this to the maximum.
    Peace


  29. Excuse the grammar and typos above!

    2.@David, I do beg your indulgence with this below but I was slapped so hard upside de head …(@Donna, oh lord I see why u does lambaste de overseas folk so..🤦🏾‍♂️)

    From de nation where a man INCITE Insurrection and then dismissed death and attacks on police at the center of his nation’s governance and most recent said he would pardon persons convicted of these heinous crimes a wise gent says of lil ole Bajans:

    “… WHAT I DEDUCE IS THAT OUR PEOPLE ARE GENERALLY NOT INTERESTED IN TRUTH OR WHAT IS RIGHT.”

    Yah think … alternative facts will do that to us!

    “WE TEND TO OPERATE IN CLIQUES AND SUPPORT AND DEFEND AND PROMOTE CLIQUE MEMBERS EVEN THOUGH SUCH MEMBERS ARE TYPICALLY MORONS, ARE LIMITED IN THIER ABILITIES, AND THUS HAVE A LIMIT THAT THEY CAN OFFER.”

    QAnon following Republicans are NOT included in the above… NOPE. ONLY foolish, two timing moronic Bajans like all we here!

    “IN ADDITION, IT IS NOTEWORTHY THAT THEY ARE INTERESTED MOSTLY IN SELF, AND MOTIVATED MOSTLY BY GREED POWER AND THIER AMBITION. THEY HAVE NO INTEREST IN SHARING ANYTHING”

    Well, well, well. What’s up is down and orange is pink.

    I gone hear. Again apologises Mr Blogmaster. Not another word from me on that for the rest of the month! On our scout’s honour!🙏🏿


  30. “MORE REALISTICALLY I AM HERE WATCHING WINDIES WOMEN PLAYING ON WILLOW CRICKET CHANNEL
    WALSH HAVE THEM TRIM AND FIT AS DENIS WAIGHT HAD THE MEN IN THE LATE 70’S AND THROUGH THE EARLY 90’S UNTIL LARA GOT RID OF HIM, BECAUSE LARA WAS ANTIOCHES-ESQUE AS MOST OF OUR DESTROYERS ARE.”

    Dr. GP

    I don’t want to distract from the substantive topic, but, I made a similar assessment of Lara as well. And, was told by his fans that he’s a genius and should be allowed to do as he pleases.

    Lara, Chris Gayle and those of their ilk, with some input from politicians, such as SVG’s Ralph Gonsalves and GND’s Keith Mitchell, contributed significantly to the decline of W.I cricket.

    I enjoy reading your views on cricket, you seem to know ‘a lot’ about the game.


  31. @DpD
    Very erudite as always but I personally don’t care if the DLP never comes back and if the situation was reversed, I would not care if the BLP came back . I think we are continuously mixing up feel good candy with what is supposed to be good governance. We the people have elected a government and it was not the DLP.
    BTW, I have never tasted any yardfowl that was not delicious.
    That’s why I would not call Alleyne or anybody a yardfowl or even faintly try to suggest that they could come near to such a delicacy.
    Peace


  32. @David
    Why wasn’t there an uproar when Mottley introduced the offer in 2018?
    +++++++++++++++++++
    Maybe that is a question that is best directed to the Constitutional scholar who in another incarnation was Deputy Speaker of the House. I believe it was novel and caught everyone by surprise but before it could be fully digested Atherley stepped in and saved the day for the next 3 ½ years.

    Today other legal figures are looking at the offer under the light of day and discovering flaws, but it also reveals that Bajans are gullible and treat some politicians’ words as gospel.


  33. HERE I AM SPEAKING CLEARLY ABOUT WHAT I HAVE DEDUCED ABOUT OUR PEOPLE AND ONE WITH A VERY INFERIOR BRAIN IS TAKING ABOUT ALTERNATIVE FACTS, AS THOUGH WHAT I HACE SAID IS NOT TRUE.

    HERE I AM SAYING VERY TRULY THAT WE IN BARBADOS ” TEND TO OPERATE IN CLIQUES AND SUPPORT AND DEFEND AND PROMOTE CLIQUE MEMBERS EVEN THOUGH SUCH MEMBERS ARE TYPICALLY MORONS, ARE LIMITED IN THIER ABILITIES, AND THUS HAVE A LIMIT THAT THEY CAN OFFER.” AND IN RESPONSE WE GET A VERY NON STELLAR AND IRRLEVANT RESPONSE …..QAnon following Republicans are NOT included in the above… NOPE. ONLY foolish, two timing moronic Bajans like all we here!

    WHAT DO QAnon following Republicans HAVE TO DO WITH MY VERY SANE SOLID ARGUEMENT? WAS WHAT I SAID TRUE OR FALSE? AND BY THE WAY HOW ARE REPUBLICANS DIFFERENT FROM DEMOCRATS OR BLPITES FROM DLPITES, ARE THEY NOT THE SAME SWAMP DWELLING MEMBERS OF DUOPOLIES?

    THEN IS WHAT I SAID HERE TRUE OR FALSE?
    “IN ADDITION, IT IS NOTEWORTHY THAT THEY ARE INTERESTED MOSTLY IN SELF, AND MOTIVATED MOSTLY BY GREED POWER AND THIER AMBITION. THEY HAVE NO INTEREST IN SHARING ANYTHING”

    SO HOW THEN WHETHER I AM RIGHT OR WRONG IS THIS QUITE NON STELLAR AND PUERILE RESPONSE POIGNANT OR PERTINENT VIZ What’s up is down and orange is pink.? ESPECIALLY WHEN BOTH THESE STATEMENTS ARE FALSE?

    NOW ONE CAN SEE WHY WE WONT PROGRES
    THIS IS THE KIND OF LOGIC THAT INFORMS US SPEWED BY BETZPAENIC FOLK EFFLUXING BOVINE EXCREMENT FROM BRAIN TISSUE THAT HAS CLEARLY UNDERGONE SERIOUS METAPLASIA AS SEEN IN THE REGIONS OF THE SHELVES OF HOUSTON RATHER THAN BROCAS AREA # 44

    WATCH NOW THIS POST WILL GET TEK DUNG FUH JUST REFUTING THE RUBBISH OF ONE OF THE BU CLIQUE MEMBERS


  34. THANKS ARTAX
    I AM A SERIOUS STUDENT OF THE GAME…….AND ACTUALLY SEE IT AS MUCH MORE THAN A GAME. I SEE IT AS A SERIOUS DISCIPLINE THAT SERIOUSLY MIRRORS THE GAME OF LIFE
    IN ADDITION TO THE POLITICIANS, SO CALLED ELITE MEN LIKE PETER SHORT DESTROYED OUR CRICKET WHEN THEY DEEM THAT I8 OF OUR “SECOND STRING PLAYERS:”” WHO HAD EITHER PLAYED TEST CRICKET AND FIRST CRICKET AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL, SHOULD BE BANNED FOR LIFE FOR GOING TO SA TO EARN A LIVING TEMPORARILY

    TO PUNISH A FEW MILLIONS HAVE BEEN, AND CONTINUE TO BE PUNISHED FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS OR SO
    THE BIBLICAL INJUNCTION IS THUS TRUE…….WHERE THERE IS NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PERISH. IN SOME WAY OR OTHER


  35. “NOW ONE CAN SEE WHY WE WONT PROGRES
    THIS IS THE KIND OF LOGIC THAT INFORMS US SPEWED BY BETZPAENIC FOLK EFFLUXING BOVINE EXCREMENT FROM BRAIN TISSUE THAT HAS CLEARLY UNDERGONE SERIOUS METAPLASIA AS SEEN IN THE REGIONS OF THE SHELVES OF HOUSTON RATHER THAN BROCAS AREA # 44”

    you pseudo medical diagnosis flew out the window when you said “… EFFLUXING BOVINE EXCREMENT FROM BRAIN TISSUE ..” as that is not in any medical text books I have at home and I got them by the ton


  36. Very sad to almost painful to watch how the Constitution is made to become a political football to give way to politricks
    Mottley knew exactly that her offer would not stand above what the Constitution has directed
    However she made that move with a malicious and mischievous intent one that knowingly would have been refused by the dlp
    Now all bets are on Mottley divisional tactics with her loyalist in tow helping to move the goal post closer to score a winning goal for the govt
    Be that as it may
    The Constitution which has been a doctrine built on moral guidelines now stand in the bullseye of a political hat trick of being kicked like a rusty old can to the curb


    • Could it be she was as malicious as former AG Adreil Brathwaite promising to investigate if Mottley was illegally practicing law without a LEC?


  37. SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS……….
    Speaking of Snakes for Slurs and Slanders this is an excellent daily practice exercise from Dao Hua School Chinese Heritage

    Snake Qigong for Longevity by Zhixing Wang, Dao Hua Qigong School (UK)


  38. Chinese Health Medical Qigong Wisdom Versus Western Doctor Boffins

    If you want to improve circulation of cerebral fluid aka Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) which is a clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord (aka the altar of God) then do this scientifically proven exercise

    ✅ INSTANTLY Improve Circulation With This 10 Minute Qigong Practice🫀🔁


  39. DavidJanuary 31, 2022 11:36 AM

    Could it be she was as malicious as former AG Adreil Brathwaite promising to investigate if Mottley was illegally practicing law without a LEC?
    Xxxxx
    David did she ever produce the certificate to be recorded as a document of the house as she had promised
    Her mischievous words and deeds would forever stand as documentation as the evil that lives within
    Xxxxx
    Here today barbadians are being thrown into a theater of Mia politricks and one that put the Constitution in an unprepared role


  40. @drGP
    I am not a student of the game, but played much as a young man. I knew Short, reasonably well. The decision to ban those Packerites, was largely political. Very few, regardless of skin tone, were taking the somewhat obvious view, these players were simply seeking work. Rather, wuk all ya want, but, not there.
    You may recall there were also changes to County cricket eligibility around the same time. What the various WI governing bodies had failed to do, was to find an outlet for the abundance of talent within their geography. They did nothing, so Packer stepped in. And it wasn’t just WI players.
    Yet, those talented young players paid the personal price, for what would be the birth of emerging professional cricket beyond the few opportunities in provincial cricket. The change makers always pay the price?
    Some of this maybe analogous to NCAA sports in your country. Some programs make so much money it is scary. Yet, the players have to ‘go pro’ to get any kind of meaningful remuneration. Even though the NCAA teams they play for, make a small fortune. While their ‘coaches’ and other management are remunerated at a ‘pro level’.


  41. NorthernObserver January 31, 2022 12:57 PM #: “I knew Short, reasonably well. The decision to ban those Packerites, was largely political.”

    @ NO

    Are you sure W.I cricketers who played in the Kerry Packer sponsored tournament were banned, or was it those who went to play in South Africa, as Dr. GP ‘said?’

    I remember they were given the title ‘honourary whites.’


  42. @ David

    How could Mottley have promised to make the LEC she publicly declared she does not have, a document of the House?


  43. DavidJanuary 31, 2022 1:36 PM

    @Artax

    The example was used to point out to ac both sides engage in political posturing

    Xxxxcc
    David come on
    Do you not realize the nonsense u have said
    What example a PM use of the Constitution for political gain cannot be called posturing
    That is what should be called as a disregard for the highest law of the land
    The serious effect and consequences intended is damaging to the protection of good governance if her idea of using the Constitution as a political lens go unchallenged
    I hoping that this govt would go their way instead of the way of the Constitution and all constitutional lawyers make headway to the CCJ to clean up this blatant disrespect


    • The Constitution of Barbados cannot be changed to appoint two DLP senators unless the government is involved.


  44. @Artax
    I think you are correct. What I have called Packerites is wrong, in that the WSC players were not banned. It was those who followed under the S.Afrcia Cricket assoc or similar, which was banned body by the ICC. Yet I do ‘believe’ one of the main revenue sources for the ‘rebel’ tours’ was TV contracts. As I said, I am not a student of the game.
    When I first lived in canada (vs student), Bacchus was here. We played on the same team. Then he left for the US. I ceased playing shortly after, and haven’t followed it much thereafter.


  45. ARTAX
    It was the W.I cricketers who went to play in South Africa, who were banned.
    However, in 1978, when Haynes and Austin, who had just been selected for the team, were added to the original Packer WI team who played in 1977, the WI selectors dropped these two players, and the WI team resigned
    .’


  46. @ David

    Yes, “BOTH sides engage in political posturing.”

    But, hypocrisy raises its head in these types of situations.

    The individuals who are now ‘lecturing’ the forum about ‘good governance’ and changing the Constitution for political gain, conveniently IGNORED those reasons when they SUPPORTED the constitutional amendment by the former administration, to facilitate the appointment of Stuart’s mate, Marston Gibson, as Chief Justice…….

    ……. when ‘willy nilly’ tinkering of the Constitution for political reasons by BOTH BLP and DLP, should be EQUALLY CONDEMNED.

    I believe amendments to the Constitution should be made in circumstances where the proposed changes will be BENEFICIAL to Barbadians…….. and NOT USED to legitimize the process of appointing ‘political operatives’ to the Senate or friends to certain posts in the public sector.

    We should also bear in mind that there have been SEVERAL amendments to the Constitution over the past few years. What would be interesting is if we were to examine those amendments and the benefits derived from those changes.


    • The challenge is that we have some commenters to BU who will never budge from their view even when presented with valid information to consider, in other words they know it all and feel comfortable framing all arguments in absolutes from their prism. The blogmaster has come to realize over the years it is better to allow this kind to wait for their epiphany moment.


  47. Artax

    The individuals who are now ‘lecturing’ the forum about ‘good governance’ and changing the Constitution for political gain, conveniently IGNORED those reasons when they SUPPORTED the constitutional amendment by the former administration, to facilitate the appointment of Stuart’s mate, Marston Gibson, as Chief Justice…….
    Xxxxx
    Firstly as one speaking about governance
    Reference to those who supported Stuart decision of ammendments for Marston Gibson does not include my having an opinion when the debate was back and forth on that issue


  48. Well gents… not to split hairs but the WSC guys were sorta ‘banned’ as in not available for selection for a period … both here and Aussie players in Australia.

    I never played at ur level @Northern but that series which Bob Simpson captained here in the region was the seminal WSC and WI dust up …. it placed the careers of people like Faoud Bacchus (Des Haynes in particular) into prime time and got people like me totally hooked on WI cricket!

    The Thompson blast at Kensington late that eve when be ‘run bout’ (he was firing some bolts) Gordon and Viv and others and Viv blasting right back with debutant Haynes playing even then like the maestro he would become… is wonderful Bajan cricket lore.

    But anyhow, later in that same series Alvin Kallicharan was captain and Lloyd, Viv and co were dropped when they stood in solidarity against the WICB selection policy .. and thus exploded that whole new WSC chapter in the world of cricket!

    That SA thing is surely a different banning completely … but all long history now… the guys were eventually forgiven (in the minds but never the hearts I believe) of most WI … as several never fully were reintegrated here…. The sad tales of Richard Austin (an absolutely awesomely gifted guy) and David Murray two such examples….

    Others like Franklyn Stephenson and Ezra Mosely and Yagga Rowe (to a lesser extent) did reintegrate with their WI brethren.

    If Nelson Mandela could forgive his apartheid prison wardens who were we not to release our mercenaries from their self imposed mental prisons. All that’s done now … we move on steadfastly.

    I gone.


    • @Dee Word

      This is the blogmaster’s recollection. To be fair to the WI bats they didn’t run and Haynes spent majority of the time at non strikers end. It was the series that made him.


  49. LOL @David.. of course none of de fellows didn’t run nah way… that was italicized poetic license.

    And yes Des was facing the medium pace of Clarke more than he did Thommo but he did face him that eve too … and Viv was hooking and cutting . Thompson was FAST that evening… VERY FAST.

    We all talk about that Holding duel with Boycott – who described it as some of the fastest.bowling he faced – … but as a young man watching … that pace from Thompson was frightening.

    Considering the players he encountered and got out that evening over a few overs of sustained hostility that too was a definitive Kensington moment…

    Right up there with the Holding event and the aforementioned Yagga Rowe’s and his after tea sweetness which ended later in 300 sublime runs!

    So let it be clear Thommo didn’t truly run bout de fellas 😇 … that would’ve been a few years earlier wid Lillee, not so 😇 causing Lloyd to reflect ‘never again’ and a dynasty was developed!🙏🏿

    Gone.


  50. I believe that genius must be properly handled in a little different way than others, yes.

    But allowing them to get rid of what OBVIOUSLY worked cannot be described as handling.

    But….if a genius comes in a bit late and still scores more than all the other batsmen combined, I would cut him a little slack.


  51. Why should a ‘genius’ be given a little slack if he comes in a bit late and scores more runs than the other batsmen?

    Then, supposed a bowler who, having seen the ‘genius batsman’ being ‘cut some slack’ and knowing the reason why, believes he deserves to be given some ‘slack’ as well, because he’s best bowler on the team with the best average and most wickets?

    Bear in mind, a precedent has already been set.

    The problem was, Lara was given ‘a lot of slack’……. probably too much. According to reports, he did not travel with the team on the aircraft, arranging his own flights; or on the bus, turning up the practice and cricket matches by taxi, nor did he stay in the same hotel as the team.
    Read Wes Hall’s management report on the West Indies 1995 tour to England when Richie Richardson was Captain.

    Ironically, when Lara was appointed Captain he repeatedly called for team unity.

    But, these are only MY opinions.


  52. @ Blogmaster:
    (Quote):
    And we must now deal with this problem. I support the idea that an amendment of Section 75 is the orderly solution.
    It cannot be in this country’s long-term interest for the DLP to be excluded, once again, from the lawmaking table in our Parliament. The discussions must discreetly take place now that the issues are known. And the DLP must quickly put its house in order for this situation would hardly have resurfaced if that had been done.
    (Unquote).
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    It seems Ezra is overly concerned about filling those two vacant seats in the rubberstamping Senate.

    Isn’t the Chamber of non-elected members a mere ratification body unless some rebels for the people’s cause exist as Independent senators when it comes to amending the Constitution?

    Why isn’t Ezra more concerned about the real Constitutional crisis threatening the existence of democracy in the House of Assembly where the real “lawmaking table” exists?

    How can that convoluted Section 75 of the prevailing Constitution be amended without affecting the role of Her Excellency’s loyal Leader of the Opposition (LoO) in the HoA?

    In the absence of any elected member prepared to perform the role of the LoO would Sec. 75 be amended, for clarification, to allow either The President or the PM to carry out the duties of the LoO including the appointment of 2 senators to the Upper Chamber?

    Wouldn’t the Constitution also have to be amended to openly recognize the role of political parties if any seat in the Upper Chamber is to be allocated to any person representing the DLP or any other political party in opposition to the government but not represented in the HoA?


    • @Miller

      Didn’t the ‘rubber stamping’ Senate send back bills to the lower house? Including the contentious integrity in public life bill!


  53. With reference to geniuses this is an extremely difficult topic. Donna is right. Who can remember Eric Cantona, he was recognised as being a football genius at Manchester United. Before his arrival , Alex Ferguson, could not get his team over the winning line. In walked Cantona; and everything changed. He was the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle. His colleagues were happy to be in his presence, he was idolised by the younger players. He was the firestarter and remains one of the most revered footballer in British history.

    Ferguson was smart enough to treat him differently to all his other players. They, the players accepted that. Cantona never disrespected his colleagues or his manager. In Manchester he found a club and a home he could call his own; unlike his previous clubs in France where he was know as a maverick and considered too hot to handle.

    Artax is right about Lara. As a batsman he was a genius. Apart from that I have nothing positive to say about him. He was a divisive character. The West Indies teams always used to be fairly well united. With the introduction of Lara everything changed. Sometimes a genius is best left on the shelf if they have to play in a team.


  54. “The challenge is that we have some commenters to BU who will never budge from their view even when presented with valid information to consider, in other words they know it all and feel comfortable framing all arguments in absolutes from their prism. “

    Trolls will never admit when they are wrong


  55. @ Miller
    Listen to this pathetic nonsense from Ezra:
    “The discussions must discreetly take place now that the issues are known. And the DLP must quickly put its house in order…..”
    Why must these discussions be discreet?
    What issues are now known?
    He is attempting to give Mottley cover.
    Our country is not a secret society. This is no threat to national security. But the self appointed prosecutors come here trying to confuse the issue.
    These are the facts:
    The DLP won no seats in 2018 and Mottley offered them two seats in the Senate. Atherley stepped in and stopped that from happening;
    She comes back with the same crap in 2022 but this time , it backfired when it was explained that she had no authority under the constitution to offer what she did.
    1. It’s the Presidents call
    2. For it to be a legitimate offer Mottley has to amend the Constitution.
    All the sophistry cannot change these facts.
    3. Mottley knows without any opposition, she will be speaking to herself. It’s not her fault , the people voted for that .
    4. No constitutional amendment can be made until the House is fully constituted.
    5. The President has to appoint her senators.
    Then we will all know where this is heading.
    Ezra is only fooling who he can fool. They are awaiting the President and she is taking her time.
    Simple as that.
    Peace.


  56. Coming from the man who predicted …?

    DLP can still be a formidable ‘Opposition’

    by REVEREND DR DAVID DURANT

    WITH A 30-0 victory by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) was left without a seat in Parliament for the second time in three and a half years. Congratulations and well-wishes to Mia Amor Mottley and the BLP team on their resounding victory at the polls on January 19.
    The DLP must now take this time to regroup, rebrand, refocus and develop a new strategic approach to recapturing the government at the next general election, constitutionally due in five years.
    Let me hasten to say that as the opposition party with the most votes, about 17 per cent of votes cast, the people of Barbados expect the DLP to represent them and to make sure it keeps the Government in check. You do not need to be in Parliament to be a vibrant, dynamic, effective opposition party. Your voice can still be heard on the electronic and social media platforms, as well as through your astute writings in the print media.
    Snap election
    In 1983, the Prime Minister of Jamaica Edward Seaga of the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) called a snap election on December 15, but Michael Manley of the People’s National Party (PNP) boycotted the election to protest the refusal of the ruling JLP to update the electoral roll amid allegations of voter fraud. This act resulted in the JLP under Seaga winning all 60 seats in the House of Representatives in Jamaica leaving Manley’s PNP without a seat. There was a very low voter turnout of 29.49 per cent.
    Jamaica was without an official opposition from December 1983 to February 1989, but that didn’t stop Manley and the PNP from speaking on national, social and economic issues from classrooms, auditoriums and on political platforms across Jamaica, representing the interests of the people as the unofficial opposition party. On February 9, 1989, general elections were held in Jamaica, which resulted in the Manley’s PNP winning 45 of the 60 seats, with a turnout of 78.4 per cent. Manley and the PNP fought valiantly from outside of Parliament and earned a landslide victory. The PNP also went on to win in 1993, 1997 and 2002. What a solid political comeback from zero. To the DLP I say, there is hope.
    Suggestions for DLP
    I would suggest that the DLP appoint a shadow cabinet, establish the Errol Barrow Gallery in George Street as the unofficial opposition seat of parliament and have a weekly debate on whatever is presented in the Lower House, utilising all the social media platforms – Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, the print and electronic media and full press coverage – to full advantage. It would be to the party’s further advantage to have the two opposition senators selected by the DLP, representing the people’s interest in the Upper House – the Honourable Senate –with the shadow cabinet leading the charge from what could become known as the Lower House in George Street. This would bring back some freshness, life, balance and interest to the cut and thrust of
    politics and lift Barbados’ democracy to a new level in this present situation.
    I therefore encourage all the DLP candidates and all party supporters to remain strong and focused and work together diligently to find ways to preserve the honour and dignity of the party in the face of defeat. There is hope; just remain patient. Don’t become disengaged because of disappointment and distance yourselves from your constituents. Let this temporary setback be instructive and allow the lessons learned to be the light along the path that will effect the changes needed to bring out the best in this noble party.
    To the DLP’s team and supporters here and in the diaspora, I encourage you to embrace that deep conviction and endeavour to transform the disappointment of defeat into an opportunity to regroup, reflect, rebrand, reset, recalibrate and move on as you strive to see those extraordinary possibilities become the new reality.
    The great Nelson Mandela said: “Do not judge me by my successes; judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
    I will end with this quote from Harry Emerson Fosdick: “Democracy is based upon the conviction that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.”
    The DLP will rise again. God bless our great nation and wonderful citizens.
    Reverend Dr David Durant served as Government senator in a previous Democratic Labour Party administration. This article was submitted as a Letter to the Editor.

    Source: Nation


  57. CADRES national and constituency survey survey gives insight into voting patterns

    ELECTION ELECTION
    2022 POLL REVIEW REVIEW

    By Peter Wickham

    Background to Surveys:

    Over the year preceding the 2022 election, CADRES was commissioned to execute national and constituency surveys on behalf of a local client, who opted not to make the information public as was the case post-2018.
    However, we have sought and received permission to release this information into the public domain as part of the historic political record. The NATION has kindly agreed to publish this abridged report of our findings for the benefit of its readers. The report that follows speaks to two national public opinion polls conducted in May and October 2021 and 15 individual constituency surveys conducted during January of 2022, after the election was announced.
    Methodology:
    The surveys were all designed by CADRES director Peter W. Wickham, and Dominic Bowen supervised a team of interviewers, the vast majority of whom have worked with CADRES on several previous projects. The methodology for the national poll in May was consistent with that which was adhered to in previous national CADRES polls in that roughly 1 000 persons were interviewed across all 30 constituencies. The selection of respondents was made from Polling Divisions (PDs) that reflected the closest relationship between BLP and DLP support based on the 2018 election results.
    In this and other CADRES reports, reference is made to swing projections, which normally rely on an estimation of support from the most proximate election (2018). In this instance, however, CADRES determined that the 2018 election was likely to be an outlier and therefore relied on the 2013 results to inform the estimations of Uncommitted or Uncertain votes, which is an essential component of the party support projections. This method is naturally more conservative than our traditional approach; however, it appears to have been quite reliable in this instance.
    Major National Issues:
    All three survey exercises were conducted during the pandemic, and it was therefore assumed that the management and general matters related to COVID would be the major preoccupation of the Government. In all instances, respondents were asked to identify the major national and constituency issues other than COVID and thereafter asked to consider the performance of the government with respect to COVID.
    Table 1 speaks to the seven major national issues in October of 2021, and it should be noted that job creation was also the top issue in May/June and continued to be the major preoccupation in January of 2022. Although this question sought to identify non-COVID issues, the list clearly speaks to issues that have been impacted by COVID, which supports the suggestion that the elections both here and elsewhere in the Caribbean were effectively single-issue election with COVID being that single issue.
    Table 1: Major National Issue (October 2021)

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/table-1-1.png
    Figure 1 speaks specifically to Government’s handling of COVID and in each instance respondents were asked to rate Government’s handling of the issue on a scale ranging from “1” to “10” with “1” being the lowest or worse score and “10” being the highest or best score. The average scores are presented here to a single decimal point; however, if rounded up, it can be seen that Barbadians rated Government at seven out of ten which would be considered “good” or “very good”. In addition, the October survey asked respondents if they thought that the pandemic was managed better elsewhere in the region and the majority (48 per cent) said they thought that Barbados handled the crisis better, while 27 per cent said they thought it was handled about the same here as elsewhere in the Caribbean.
    In the same survey, 56 per cent of Barbadians said they did not think that either the DLP or PdP could have handled the pandemic better, while the next largest quantity was unsure.
    CADRES asked similar questions in several Caribbean countries and notes that averages ranged between six and seven, with a single country (Cayman Islands) recording an eight. In the case of the Cayman Islands, there were only individual cases of COVID prior to Delta and the government there maintained a strict lockdown with generous compensation for workers who were forced to remain at home.

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/figure-1.png
    Figure 1: Rating of Government’s Handling of COVID Leadership: The issue of leadership was evaluated in these surveys in several ways; however, the key question was the person that Barbadians preferred to lead them at this time and these data are presented in Figure and Table 2. Figure 2 is presented according to party support and reflects the fact that Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley was not only overwhelmingly more popular nationally but was preferred among all party support cohorts. DLP leader Verla De Peiza was most popular among DLP supporters; however, even here she was only preferred by slightly less than half of DLP supporters.
    Figure 2: Preferred Leader (May 2021)
    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/figure-2-1.png
    Table 2 presents historic data on the Preferred Prime Minister question as reflected in CADRES polls since 1994. This comparative data confirms Mottley’s historic placement in terms of preference as she has received any sitting Prime Minister (79 per support level for any individual who (52 per centt in 2017).

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/table-2.png
    the highest level of support for per cent) along with the highest who was not yet Prime Minister Table 2: Preferred Prime Minister Minister Track Party Support
    In this section the details of the reproduced for both the May/June with select constituency surveys from presents the projections arising from and compares these with the 2018 sense of the accuracy. In this instance, the 2013 performance of both the have been a more reliable predictor In May/June of 2021 CADRES projected rose to the level of 79 per cent, which per cent and was reflective of an environment had very few named candidates. The reversal of this swing at a time when of its candidates and the leader had second challenge to her leadership. survey (October) and was clearly January outcome as it was within the election. Alternatively, it could be argued that the timing of the election was a strategic response to a perceived decline in BLP support, which the campaign was marginally able to contain to the extent of twopercentage points.
    the party support question are June and October surveys, along from January. Initially, Table 3 from the two national surveys 2018 and 2022 elections to convey a instance, the projection was based on BLP and DLP, which appears to predictor of the likely outcome in 2022. projected that the BLP support which represented a swing of six environment in which the DLP The October poll reflected a when the DLP had named most had successfully countered the leadership. This was the last national a reliable indicator of the within the +/- 5 per cent margin of Table 3: Poll Projections and Election Outcomes

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/figure-3.png
    At the constituency level, Table 3 presents the CADRES projections, along with the actual results associated with six of the 15 constituencies surveyed. The nine others are not presented as the BLP was well ahead in these. Among these, three are highlighted in RED that CADRES would have assessed as “in-play”.
    CADRES assessed that St John and St Philip North could still have been won by the DLP at that time, while the DLP was ahead in St Philip West. It is clear that the BLP’s campaign benefited from a targeted assault on these weaker areas in the final weeks, which focused heavily on St Philip that was ultimately neutralised.
    In the final analysis, the St John situation appears to have overstated the DLP’s support as a result of the fact that CADRES polled the DLP’s strongest boxes in St John, consistent with our conservative polling strategy. It is also important to note that the outcome of the election could have been influenced by specific events such as the platform appearance of Freundel Stuart and 11th hour comments by Lucille Moe and Christopher Sinckler.

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/table-3.png
    Table 3: January 2022 Poll and Election Outcomes The final set of data presented relates to the reasons why persons did not vote and is linked to the information presented last week, which noted that the majority of the persons who were either unlikely or determined not to vote were DLP supporters. In this instance, CADRES has manipulated the data and eliminated those who were determined to vote, leaving the potential non-voters. This group has been categorised according to party support and the reasons presented comparatively.
    Among BLP non-voters, the majority were motivated to stay away on account of the election being a foregone conclusion, along with the fact that the candidates were not exciting. On the DLP side, the lack of excitement regarding candidates was the single most important motivation, as was the case with those who did not tell CADRES for whom they would vote. This is critical information as analysts consider the reasons for the low turnout and allege voter apathy.
    Clearly, the reasons are different for supporters of the two parties; however, the reasons for persons not voting (on both sides) are in some way related to their lack of interest in the candidates.

    Peter W. Wickham is a political consultant and a director of Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES). Email: peter.w.wickham@gmail.com

    Source: Sunday Sun


  58. The dlp would continue to shoot itself in the foot and mouth if the madness of fighting over leader persist
    Not saying that any one can be a leader
    But they must come to a point of conclusion that a leader must be one able to gain respect and confidence in the base
    The last election of their presidency blew the party in many splinters
    Having a leader that can interject healing amongst the members is the first step going forward


  59. @David, that CADRES data is WOW … that’s a whole year of chat all by its lonesome self.

    I was actually impressed even by @AC view (I presume based on what s/he read) : “Having a leader that can interject healing amongst the members is the first step going forward”.

    Yep… if ur opposing leader is polling at the freaking astronomical 79% with 51% of your own DLP self identified supporters agreeing that she is the preferred leader … then yep… u have a damn BIG problem!

    Of course one must always be leary of the indicative value of polls because of the methodologies used but CADRES has been a proven, highly professional institution for years now so we take this on face value as indeed a WOW WTF.

    Houston, Bdos has a massive ‘Maximum Leader’ problem.

    But that said one must also ask: Did the freaking DLP do any serious polling atall??? Anecdotally one expected 1) there were a few ridings in which they could be competitive and thus needed to throw the kitchen sink towards them … did they do that; 2) they needed to stay away from certain narratives around leadership (and from former leaders)… it appears they did not grasp that atall either.

    Taking those leadership metrics into consideration the platform verbiage from the young lady was indeed bad politicking… she was spitting into a very strong headwind unknowingly it seems. Her party should have been more aware.

    And finally … did any of the so called third parties do any type of data analysis of past poll, seek any polls or any such???? … That is the reality of POLITICS not waiting to seek candidates weeks before an election!

    Ah well.

    Thanks for the post Mr Blogmaster … it’s truly a WOW!

    PS: I gotta believe that Dipper and Grantley would have seen 80% approval ratings too, yes…. but how does your opponent trend less that 10% compared to that and expect to get traction ….. The DLP ‘gots’ to do some radical PR and get this lady off that perch asap! (Politically speaking generally, of course… can’t be good for the nation… as it wasn’t when EWB strode similarly colossus-like!)

    I gone.


    • @Dee Word

      Sorry for not updating on the weekend. The poll assumption should not be held as the gospel but it is the only form of quantitative analysis a available, we are left to consider it to inform our opinions.


  60. A genius is a genius because he (or she) is different.

    A genius’ brain is “wired” differently and this is what makes him a genius.

    If you try to stuff a genius into a regular box you may end up stifling his genius.

    Regular team members who cannot pull any rabbits out of the hat must be made to put their egos aside for the sake of the team. They have no right to those egos until they too can pull rabbits out of hats.

    I spoke of genius being managed. That includes setting guard rails for the excesses of the genius.

    Indeed, Lara should never have been allowed to get rid of the Aussie who himself was an essential part of the set up. They should have hired a professional to make peace between the two.

    One should also remember that Lara was not too proud to seek out the advice of another genius when he ran into technical difficulties and was known to stay on at the nets putting that advice into practice long after the others had left the building.

    The Lara problem was a management problem that could have been handled much better.

    I do not blame Lara. Genius is notoriously difficult.


  61. Very correct @David, re “The poll assumption should not be held as the gospel” but the numbers are startingly WOW nonetheless.

    As a snapshot of Bajan sentiment this “form of quantitative analysis” is off the charts in every sense.

    For very practical reasons it’s understandable why the owner of the data choose NOT to publish it prior to elections … it would have been a scandal and Wickham would have been loudly accused of undermining the DLP, subverting Bajan politics and worst.

    Politically the DLP BETTER get informed … a majority of their members believe the oppo leader is better (by over 40 points) than their leader. … Even if the poll is wrong well beyond the statistical +/- 5% norm that’s still a MASSIVE problem!

    Moreover the current leader is considered at a 79% national popularity. .. she moved from 15% in 2013…

    Whether we extrapolate at 153 votes per point or by percentage swing one can very simply see how her popularity (DLP disapproval) translated to whopping victories .

    The data is stunning however we parse it and reflects exactly what we say her daily and also actually saw and experienced…. It also belies and puts into greater perspective this trope of ‘low voter turnout’ and the recent election.

    How can ANY political group overcome a 6% vrs 79% leadership approval.

    And how does the BLP leadership team reign in an over zealous, alleged constitution bashing, whimsical national hero selecting boss-lady who has a 96% approval with her flock!

    Based on what we see in the US wid #45 and his hold on his party we Bajans gots’ a mighty big problem too, brother.

    I gone.


    • @Dee Word

      Making the matter interesting is that the DLP has remained in the same place as far as making progressions since 2018.


  62. Yep. I mis-estimated completely. The political pendulum didn’t move one iota in 3.5yrs.
    While unrelated, similar was experienced in Canada between ’19 and ’21.


  63. @ DPD @ David
    Perhaps we are witnessing the decaying of the DLP from which it may never return. Could be the beginning of the end.


  64. @ David
    Agreed. It’s going to take a lot more than accepting two senate seats from its twin sibling to revive the DLP.

    Peace.

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