The following comment was posted to the blog University professor points at Yearwood and although concise in delivery the message is poignant for what it portends given the current state of local politics.
Just in case anyone didn’t catch this, this actually caused a constitutional crisis. Twice. Law is simply software; written for humans. There was a “bug” in the software; no one ever imagined that the Opposition wouldn’t win even a single seat. As I understand it, people had to “cross the floor” just to patch this bug.
The imbroglio at George Street where the other established political party continues to struggle to be relevant in local politics means that with just over 2 years from a constitutional general election, there is no viable alternative. There is the possibility the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) may suffer another trouncing at the polls. For the political diehards and the many ignorant about civic responsibility, we have the makings of a constitutional crisis. Some believe the crisis has been with us since 2018.
Unfortunately there is no easy fix to the problem. Although Barbadians have been publicly voicing concerns and feedback the DLP is a private group and its problems must be solved by the members. The irony is that the lack of preparedness of the DLP or any other opposition political party for that matter has deep implications for how the governance of the country.
Barbados has been included in many election observer missions over the years in the region and internationally. The feeble attempt to contrive political opposition since 2018 is embarrassing for a country known across the globe for its stable political climate. The narrow-sighted will protest that Barbados is politically stable, the blogmaster is inclined to disagree. The inability of parliament since 2018 to have adequate sitting members to ensure important working committees are staffed to provide oversight of the peoples’ business is an example of not being stable. The lack of robust public participation in the Parliamentary Reform Commission and Constitutional Reform Commission is a barometer of the level of maturity of our people. Matters of governance are considered to be boring and best left to a manipulative few. Someone once said “Every nation gets the government it deserves”.
In 2022 Prime Minister Mottley is quoted as saying – “It [this election] is a stop to continue the transformation of this country, and I say this to you in all humility, I may not get there at the end of this journey with you because the transformation is more than five years. I have said over and over that I believe this will be my last term.” Given what appears to be a dearth of leadership talent in the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the long running challenges within the DLP since the death of Barrow, it is conceivable should Mottley retire from active politics anytime soon the country may face the mother of all challenges.
If ever there was a time for a few good men and women to raise hands in the service of country, now is that time. How can we justify having allocated billions to the national education budget and find ourselves burdened with a leadership deficit?
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.