Barbadians work up to the news that the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) elected the following members to the Executive as reported by Starcom Network:
Former Member of Parliament and Government Minister Dr. David Estwick is the new President of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).
The long-standing St. Philip West candidate defeated acting President Stephen Lashley by 217 votes to 136 in a highly charged election during the party’s annual conference at George Street last night.
Attorney-at-law and St. Philip North candidate Simon Clarke was elected First Vice President with 141 votes, while Felicia Dujon secured the post of Second Vice President with 138. Amoy Gilding-Bourne was elected Third Vice President with 131 votes, and Damien Fanus Fourth Vice President with 124.
Attorney-at-law Corey Greenidge is the new General Secretary after polling 179 votes, while Pedro Shepherd was elected Assistant General Secretary with 108. Ian Griffith secured the post of Treasurer with 180 votes.
There is not much that can be said for some of us living in hope that a strong dissenting political voice will emerge. There was hope that after three humiliating defeats at the polls, the DLP would have learned from past mistakes and rebranded. After eight years in the political wilderness, election of a multiple political reject appears to be one believed by the DLP faithful to navigate the party from the political mire.
A few years ago Barbados Underground expressed concern that David Estwick was said to have brandished a weapon near retired M.P: Dale Marshall within the precincts of parliament. It he porakey governance system we practice, no surprise the Committee of Privilege was NOT motivated to hold guilty parties accountable. Instead we continue with the circus event of merry go round.
It is clear that the DLP has infected so deep a wound which Prime Mottley and her Mottley crew have taken advantage, that barring a divine intervention the DLP is doom to suffer another humiliating defeat at the next general election.
The structural issue is that the DLP’s internal fractures, drift, and inability to articulate a relevant policy agenda to the electorate has created a vacuum. A vacuum that Mottley has expertly exploited at the expense of taxpayers. The DLP has not only lost electoral ground; it has lost moral authority and public trust. Rebuilding requires more than electing familiar faces – it demands renewal that appeals to all and sundry support by a credible national vision. If this does not happen soon (maybe too late), the DLP remains trapped in nostalgia, self pity while nursing self inflicted wounds of the pad two decades, unable to confront a political landscape that has moved on without it.
It is incredible to observe the fledgling new party Friends of Democracy has been making more noise than the DLP since being ‘gifted’ a Senate seat.
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