Wow, who said a week is a long time in politics?
The emergence of Ralph Thorne if nothing else has spiced up the political pot in Barbados. Until his crossing of the floor about two weeks ago it was all negative political chatter and bleak outlook mostly directed at the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).
Chances are – we will know in the fullness of time – if Ralph Thorne’s attempt to breath political life into a moribund DLP may yet come to nought. Lest we forget the DLP was decimated in the 2018 and 2022 general elections, losing all 30 seats contested. By any measure it was an unequivocal and unprecedented rejection of the DLP continuing to struggle with recovery.
It is obvious, even to a casual observer, Thorne was strategic in his decision making to return to the DLP although his reentry was not the smoothest. All things concerned his initial objective appears to have been achieved – we will have to wait to observe what backroom deal was negotiated between the old and new guard. Clearly Thorne has the upper hand as the sitting member of the House of Assembly, however, Yearwood’s effort at makeover of the party, ‘control’ of the DLP Executive and the public’s continuing negative perception of the DLP post 2018 would have given him some leverage at the negotiating table after retired trade unionist and DLP stalwart Bobby Morris had to be parachuted in to navigate a truce between the old and new guard that threatened to derail Thorne’s plan.
No doubt Thorne’s plan was to use earned media created by the 2024-2025 Estimates. and to a large extent he has achieved the objective. Thorne’s acerbic interventions during the Estimates debate has added to the theatre of local politics, however, the polity remains critically compromised. It is still a concern our governance system remains severely hobbled by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) winning all seats in parliament.
It is early days how the Thorne dynamic will influence DLP politics to treat with a wounded member of the duopoly, clearly attempts to create a third party political movement continues to fail in Barbados. Thorne may not be the one but many are fervently praying his action will be the catalyst of good things to come to improve governance in the country.
Although early days, Thorne’s political style and approach on the opposition bench starkly contrasts with Joe Atherley who attempted a similar action in 2018. Atherley’s laid back style and lack of a mass party support has ensured relegation to being a political footnote.
After years of Barbados’ electoral system being considered one for others in the global community to emulate, the first past the post system has been exposed as wholly inadequate to support a relevant system of government. Mottley despite her performance in the international arena has been the predictable political animal on the home front by showing little appetite to throw a bone at the political opposition. An example is her refusal to amend the rule to allocate subvention monies to struggling political parties.
We will have to wait for the script Cometh the hour, cometh Ralph Thorne to play out. The blogmaster suspects a critical piece of the puzzle will be how the general membership reacts at next year’s DLP annual conference as it prepares for another general election.
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.