Category Archives: Democratic Labour Party

I Forgive You

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Submitted by Grenville Phillips II

I normally take my best advice. Therefore, I wish to publicly forgive those whom I have publicly criticised for doing me harm.

I forgive the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) administration for confiscating part of my retirement savings and pension, changing the laws of Barbados to make that theft legal, and not allowing me to access all the remainder of my retirement savings until the year 2033.

POLITICAL PARTIES.

I forgive the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration for what the BLP called “the lost decade”. During seven years of that decade, I was not allowed to tender on construction projects in Barbados because of their corrupting procurement policy.

PARTISAN PROFESSIONALS.

I forgive our politically partisan professionals. They include: economists, accountants, lawyers, journalists, and political scientists who criticised behaviour when it was done by the political party they did not support, and praised the same behaviour when it was done by their preferred political party.

I forgive our established media, who work with their political party to suppress the voices of credible Barbadians, so that the media’s audience is mainly informed about the views of the media’s political party.

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Remove Kothdiwala from Commission

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Submitted by D.Douglas Smith

A concerned group of citizens, as well as myself, continue to be shocked by the public comments of one Khaleel Kothdiwala, the individual who the prime minister tried to appoint to the senate, even though the constitution did not allow it.

Most recently he has hitched himself to the debacle at the ministry of education with the outrageous survey conducted in the schools. He claims to be a youth advocate, so how could he seek to defend the disgraceful survey? How can he be a youth advocate, while at the same time being totally blinded by his loyalty to the ruling regime? Who gave him that title? How could his judgement be so poor that he can support this terrible survey?

He has used his column in one of the local newspapers to peddle propaganda on behalf of the regime. He has defended the activities at Four Seasons raised by the Auditor-General, he voiced support for the regime’s agenda of debt, debt and more debt, and he has called for the interests of tourists to be put ahead of local people, while wanting locals to keep wearing their masks like good servants. Check his columns and you will notice a clear dislike for the majority of Barbadians and a complete blind loyalty to the regime and his hatred for the DLP and the other opposition.

Therefore, how can Barbadians feel comfortable that he is sitting on the committee to review the constitution? What are his qualifications to sit on that committee anyway? He has shown that his first interest is the regime, so how will the public feel that their concerns will be taken seriously by this young man, if those concerns do not line up with his regime’s agenda? What will happen to information collected by the committee? The Prime Minister must explain to the country why Kothdiwala is there, among other people who are generally well-qualified. What was the purpose of putting him there?

We demand that Kothdiwala be removed with immediate effect from the constitutional reform commission, in the interest of fairness. We call on Barbadians to boycott the commission until Kothdiwala is removed. They are asking the public to email them recommendations, we ask Barbadians to refrain from doing that until he is removed. If they ever get around to townhall meetings, we call on Barbadians to refuse to attend those events. He cannot stay.

The public demands that Kothdiwala must go!

On behalf of concerned Barbadians,

D. Douglas Smith

Today Ends Barbados’ Lesson on the IMF

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Submitted by Kemar J.D Stuart, Director Business Development , Finance and Investment Stuart & Perkins Caribbean

However On September 28th 2022 the Prime Minister of Barbados announced the details in regards to signing another IMF program. Included in this new IMF program is pension reform and reform to state owned enterprises

In the press conference earlier this month the Prime Minister when asked by a reporter she venomously denied that pension reform will be included in this new IMF program but it will be done in the old program which ends september 30th today .

The mention of the credit rating agencies, keeping Barbados’ credit rating at stable is nonsensical as Moody’s already indicated publicly in a release that Barbados will not be downgraded as long as it signs another IMF program. Barbados has not regained access to international capital markets after the voluntary default in 2018.

Prime Minister Mottley said it was difficult to say how deep state owned enterprises reforms would be under the new program . This is a confusing statement as the government circulated a survey previously under the first program asking citizens which SOE’s should or should not be privatized.

The strategy to cut as many SOE’s from government funding is still in place. The strategy is to fund them via a tax or levy or privatization . The PM made reference to urban and rural development which will be merged into one department, she made mentioned of CBC which will be privatized , the BWA will be privatized as the first hint of this plan was when former Water Resources Minister Charles Griffith indicated that government is appointing a 20 man water committee to tackle the water woes. The committee is made up of a list of wealthy businessmen , BWU leader Toni Moore , Director of Finance Ian Carrington who was the IMF press conference , Dr. Clyde Mascoll, as quizzed by myself, admitted on Brasstacks that the government is now seeking to find the right price for water. The IMF in 2007 recommended that to achieve savings and to reduce the amount money government spends on BWA that automatic price increases will address the cost prices imbalance in deliver of water to Barbadians

The PM hinted that she provided an additional 30 Million to BWA instead of increasing prices , as this program progresses the BWA will face a price increase in water rates once the electricity rate increases. Transfer funding to entities such BWA are to be cut as part of the IMF deal and in observation of other countries worldwide under IMF programs saw private water companies emerging when the conditions took their toll on governments , the GAIA is still in negotiations to be leased out

The new IMF program will continue to focus on digitization of the public service as the impact of Covid-19 pushed many economies to focus on delivering services online. The government declared that their policy is to take Barbados into fully digital and cashless society under the original BERT plan

The recent tongue lashing and attack by the Acting PM Santia Bradshaw on government workers who are attached to economic programs such as the Ash program is a bluff to create reasons for the cutting of these programs as a condition of the new IMF program. The programs were always intended to be temporary but were used as tools to hand out jobs for election purposes. That vile tongue lashing was unnecessary when the truth could have been told. In order to bring improvement in the government’s fiscal position all covid related expenses and ash expenses will go. The implementation of a fiscal rule to limit domestic deficit financing will tighten in.

The writing is on the wall as further expenditures cuts in government will see some thousands of government workers laid off under the new program. The wage bill of government which stood around $850million is the one of the main consumers of government funds and the IMF recommended that it should be cut.

As the PM spoke about the UK’s currency devaluation as a reference to Barbados not being as bad as other however the continued borrowing of foreign debt to keep the 2:1 peg avoiding external devaluation comes with measures to implement an internal devaluation which is one of main reasons why prices are so high in Barbados. The internal devaluation comes in the form of government laying off workers and cutting the wage bill, reducing funds allocated to Ministries , reducing and cutting pension monies , placing caps on capital expenditures and overall cutting government provided income. Dr. Kevin spoke of how government is going about the internal devaluation while speaking with Lisa Lord on CBC tv in an interview.

The mention of Barbados having 17 Billion in debt in 2018 vs 13 Billion today is numerically true but disingenuous and misleading because the government simply wrote off $4billion in debt overnight owed to Barbadians overnight in a very draconian debt restructuring and still has not repaid those debt. The CBB lost $1B and still needs to be recapitalized and this is another missed target under the first IMF program , the NIS lost close to $1B , treasury bills were cut to the value of $1B causing Barbados to make world economic history as this action only ever occurred in Russia 1998, Ukraine 1998 and Uruguay 2003 . The last $1B were in overdrafts , government guarantees, SOE debt and arrears. The danger that locals face moving forward is that there is a high chance of another debt restructurìng and reprofiling happening where the bond payments that government promised these creditors are postponed. The likelihood of local creditors being repaid in cash is extremely low and precedence has shown that government can abuse it’s parliamentary majority by using the clause included in the debt restructuring bill which states that only 75% of creditors need to agree to any changes for new debt restructurings.

One last potential abuse of power is the government’s new thirst for compulsory acquisitions of land. Under the government’s passage of the debt settlement bill in parliament persons whose land has been taken under the Land Acquisition Act, section 4 made provision for those persons whose land was acquired by the government to be paid in bonds, this provision also covers all legal claims or outstanding liabilities.

So the question must be asked of government , once they compulsory acquire the properties in St Lawrence Gap will the property owners be paid in bonds according to the law passed via the Debt settlement bill?

Politicians Make Promises and Tell Lies

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From time to time the blogmaster retrieves the various manifestos shared over the years by the two main political parties in Barbados and it makes for interesting reflection. It is obvious the objective by the BLP and DLP is to baffle a gullible electorate. Have a read if you are a doubting Thomas – http://www.caribbeanelections.com/eDocs/manifestos/bb/blp_manifesto_2018.pdf. 

The blogmaster was drawn page 30 of the BLP manifesto titled Rebuilding the Economy, Financing National transformation. Notwithstanding the country had to battle the Covid 19 pandemic for the last 3 years there is a view that with an unprecedented large Cabinet the government should have made more progress implementing several of the promises made in the 2018 manifesto. 

Last week the government received a donation of personal equipment supplies and Minister of Health (former chairman of the controversial NIS) took the opportunity to remind Barbadians so far, fighting the pandemic has costed government about 100 million dollars. The ministry of health should be congratulated for being transparent and efficient to share the cost with the public. We will wait to have the number validated by the Auditor General.

While congratulating the Minister of Health for being able to share the cost to fight the pandemic so far – why should we be congratulating for this anyway – the public has seen roadblocks to ascertain the cost of the Barbados Digital ID Project. It is ironic that Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology Davidson Ishmael has been unable to share projected and or actual cost given the type of ministry he is responsible. It is too much of a big pill for the public to swallow he has no idea the cost of the project. He was quoted in the press as saying – “I am going to provide the public with the costs related to this project very soon. The thing is, we have the information relative to the cost [but] that information is spread across many financial years, many different components, many different agencies, departments and ministries”. 

The blogmaster understands the ID project has had several iterations across financial years straddling BOTH administrations. Is Minister Ishmael saying that at minimum he is unable to share cost incurred under his BLP government with the caveat information will come at a later date regarding prior years expense? It is the height of arrogance by the minister and flies in the face of this government’s pledge to be transparent. Is this another case of public servants messing up the bookkeeping by being complicit with politicians in the award of contracts to private sector players?

In today’s Nation the editor in chief Carol Martindale calls out government ministers for not returning calls to journalists pursuing information in the public’s interest. Again a read of the 2018 BLP Manifesto promised a government committed to being transparent. In reality, it is about making promises to win votes from a gullible public, or shall we say damn lies. Is the proclamation of Integrity and Freedom of Information legislation still a promise?

We have a Ministry of Health quick to toss around a 100 million dollar price tag for propaganda purposes, BUT, in a another ministry there is a veil of confusion about how tax payers dollars have been allocated to the Barbados ID project. Why do we have annual Estimates debates and Appropriations Bills? Surely Minister Ismael can tell the public he serves monies allocated to the project under his term? Is this a case for the Auditor General to unravel in a special audit? This maybe the case based on what the blogmaster was been made aware. If only public servants would do the damn job and stop politicians from interfering ways.

60 Love Can Lose

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It would be remiss of the blogmaster if the yesterday’s 2022 Grenada general election was not highlighted in this space. Keith Mitchell’s New National Party (NNP) won consecutive general elections in 2013 and 2018. The Mia Mottley led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) won consecutive general elections in 2018 and 2022. Today the Prime Minister of Grenada is 44 year old Dikcon Mitchell who led the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to office based on preliminary reporting 9 seats to 6. To his credit 75 year old Keith Mitchell won his seat.

Another example of the people expressing its will in a democracy. Time will tell if the NDC is able to satisfy people expectation or another case of shuffling chairs on the deck of the Titanic. It exposes Mia Mottley and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) should NOT take its unprecedented mandate for granted. Less than a year into a second term and there is growing discontentment from Barbadians largely because of increasing harsh economic conditions brought on by negative movements in the external market. The main political opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) – not dissimilar to the NDC – is led by a new young Dr. Ronnie Yearwood. In fact Dickon Mitchell was invited to speak at the DLP’s Extraordinary Conference on 1 May 2022. The win should help to inspire Yearwood and his team to what is possible. 

Some of us recognise the winning of a general election does not translate to manna from heaven, although it relieves concerns about a threat to ‘democracy’ by becoming a de facto one party state. Grenada like Barbados is a small island developing state which makes the job of governing for any government a challenge.

In the case of Mottley and Barbados one suspects if Yearwood is able to present a set of believable plans for Barbados and surround himself with a tean that is perceived as credible, who knows what is possible next election round. The recent decision by the Barbados government to borrow $256 million is not resonating well with the public. In theory many Barbados may understand we need to fix roads and attend to physical infrastructure BUT at what price. The debt stock of Barbados is north of 13 billion!

The blogmaster will continue to retreat to a position some do not accept. Citizens must continue find ways to agitate against our governments – to hold feet to fire. Politicians are in the business of popularity even if it comes at the expense of the people who elected them.

DLP on Political Warning

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It is 148 days since the last general election in Barbados. The result returned the Mia Mottley led Barbados Labour Party (BLP) the office in unprecedented manner and forced the DLP to jettison Verla De Peiza as President- replaced by Dr. Ronnie Yearwood who has been in seat for 49 days. Is it too soon some are asking for a coherent policy position to be emanating from George Street?

The saying goes that extraordinary times require extraordinary people, there is no denying we are living in extraordinary times. That said, it is a reasonable expectation by Barbadians to expect those presenting themselves for public office to hit the ground running. The system of democracy- even if a parody of the Westminster system practised by Barbados- requires a strident dissenting voice. In Yearwood’s defence he is president of a private entity and his first obligation is try to infuse a DLP suffering near political coma.

President Dr. Ronnie Yearwood recently made a statement challenging government’s ‘proposed plan’ to tackle cost of living. The blogmaster’s position has always been it is a difficult undertaking for a party in opposition without full grasp of the public purse to offer constructive alternatives. Yearwood is understandably trying to piggyback on issues resonating with the public. On the other side of the issue, Mottley has the task of managing an economy still spluttering from the shock of 2008 global meltdown and the so-called ‘lost decade’ which followed. 

ASTOR B.WATTS LUNCHTIME LECTURE SERIES

BU’s Artax analyzed Yearwood’s recent cost of living recommendations. It was not complimentary.

Yearwood isn’t proposing anything NEW.

From economists, political scientists, members of special interest groups, contributors to social media platforms, former DLP president DePeiza, Lynette Eastmond, Joseph Atherley, Grenville Phillips II, aspiring politicians…… to the ‘average man and woman on the streets,’ criticised the size of Mottley’s Cabinet and the number of consultants, almost immediately after she announced them, following the May 24, 2018 and January 19, 2022 general elections…….and have been calling on her to reduce the number since then.

The 1% levy on persons earning $6,250 per month was also heavily criticised. But, I can’t understand how its removal would help poor people.
Perhaps Yearwood could offer further explanations.

From the inception of VAT in 1998, the DLP and BLP while in Opposition, have asked and promised to expand the ‘basket of goods,’ only to reneged on their promises after ‘taking up the reins of government.’

“Remove the excise tax on fuel by 40 cents per litre and to offer relief to pensioners,” has also been previously suggested.

“Calling on Government to bring forward the reverse tax credit of $1300 for people earning below $25,000 per annum,” also requires further explanation, especially when one takes into consideration that the DEMS reduced the reverse tax credit to $650 during the recession.
How does he plan to finance $1,300 to be paid to an increase in the number of persons who would become eligible?

– Artax

Who are the members of DLP’s economic team? Under former president De peiza it was not clear. In the current challenging economic times, compounded by the perilous state of the economy, quality people, quality decisions must form part of a DLP looking to be perceived as competent by an apathetic and cynical electorate, especially in the area of finance.

DLP Supporters Must be Feeling Punch Drunk

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The Democratic Labour Party (DLP)- that beleaguered twin of the duopoly- is in the news again, what is new?

It has been reported that the widely debated two appointments to the Senate will be made today at last by the President of the Republic of Barbados. The press report in today’s newspaper names the two to be Dr. Kristina Hinds and Dr. Charleston Brathwaite. This has come about because the government withdrew a proposed contentious constitutional amendment to allow opposition parties to appoint Senators even if they failed to win seats in the Lower House.

The second news of concern for the DLP informs of the suspension of Pedro Shepherd and Alwyn Babb from the public service with half pay for contesting the last general election under the DLP banner. The BU family will recall this matter was highlighted on BU in the lead up to the 2022 general election see link:

Picking and Choosing

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The DLP leadership and supporters must be feeling punch drunk with all the blows it has been getting, and not just lately. It had to endure the enigmatic Freundel Stuart’s stewardship after he was selected the compromised candidate when perceived shining star late prime minister David Thompson unfortunately died in office.

The DLP may still have the last laugh and in the process recoup a little credibility if its acolyte in former Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite wins the appeal to the CCJ seeking to invalidate the decision to constitute the Upper House with 18 members. 

In related news he public was advised recently by de facto president of the DLP Steve Blackett 4 nominees have been selected to contest the vacancy left by the abrupt departure of Verla De Peiza. Time will tell if the leader selected will bring the leadership to whip the DLP into a fit for purpose shape.

The blogmaster’s regret continues to be the inability of others to step forward when there is a vacuum of political representation in the country. Where is the legitimacy in an argument which criticizes the two main political parties but worthy citizens are unwilling to offer themselves for public service to present a credible alternative.

#maninthemirror

Crisis of Governance – No Damn Labour Party (NDLP)

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The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was founded in 1938 and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in 1955. For many the BLP and DLP dubbed the Duopoly are the only political parties we know. In recent years both political parties have been criticized for not being sufficiently progressive to sustain a quality life for the majority of Barbadians, present and future generations. Noticeable has been the inability of alternative parties to establish themselves as credible alternatives in a ready environment.

In 2018 and 2022 the BLP won both general elections with an unprecedented consecutive 30 to zero result. While political supporters of the duopoly have understandably contrasting feelings about the results, the more independent minded continue to be very concerned. 

A strong democracy depends on quality political parties. Strong political parties depend on quality members. In recent years both DLP and BLP have been unable to attract quality individuals to stem rising voter apathy and cynicism. No need to listen to the taking heads who try to justify declining voter turnout with statistical speak. Unbiased political pundits agree that today’s voter across the globe “appear to be turning away from traditional political organizations”. It forces the question – can the democracy practiced in Barbados survive without fit for purpose political parties?

The Barbados system of government which is a parody of the Westminster system is predicated on the “public’s trust in the integrity of government”, one that embodies “a framework of ethics, professionalism and transparency”. It has become obvious EXCEPT for rabid partisan supporters our political system has been hijacked- whether it is because of a less than meritorious selection of candidates or anonymous sources of funding for political parties that flavour how decisions are made when politicians ascend to government. There is a growing bloc of disenchanted citizens- here and elsewhere- who represent a view the time has come to usher in a more direct participation by citizens to how we govern. Find ways to diminish the role of political parties and the professional political class. The days of the ‘grassroot’ politician whose sole objective was to selflessly serve the public is a faded ideal.

Barbados presents a good case study to prove the notion of a system of government failing because of a declining political party system. There is the BLP with its charismatic maximum leader- remove Mottley from the BLP leadership and there is a good chance the party will flounder to mimic the death throes being exhibited by the DLP. In the meantime and in between time the people are left with no option than to vote for twiddledee or twiddledum.

The majority of Barbadians despite our boast of being an educated people hesitate to discuss governance issues in a meaningful way. That is unless cloaked in a salacious, adversarial and contentious theme. There is the saying, a people always get the government it deserves. Across the globe this is being witnessed.

Sound of Silence

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Freundel Stuart was the prime minister of Barbados in the period 2010 to 2018 after assuming the caretaker role from David Thompson who became sick on the job soon after the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) was voted to office in 2008. The legacy of Stuart’s stewardship is still being written although some pundits at this early stage are happy to label it worse than the Sandiford administration. The tactic engineered by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) – the other member of the duopoly – has enjoyed success with branding of the Glorious Years as The Lost Decade.

The failure of a third party movement to gain traction in Barbados means the health of our democracy is nexus to well managed DLP and BLP political parties. A strident dissenting voice is a feature of the Westminster system we try to model – the lacuna created by the recent general election and ensuing legal challenge regarding how the Senate is constituted is a case in point. A good argument can therefore be made that the business of political parties is the public’s business although classified private entities. In fact the unwillingness of quality citizens to offer themselves to join political parties who aspire to selflessly serve the public is at the heart of the type of governments we are saddled.

Some of us who comment on political matters are not surprised at the dysfunctional state of the DLP. It was not difficult to forecast. Barbadians except for the rabidly partisan are turned off by the quality of politics and governments we have been getting since the Tom Adams era which ended in the mid 80s. The blogmaster opines both DLP and BLP political parties have been rotated to govern the country based on the level of voter apathy and lack of credible alternatives and little to do with substance. The unprecedented 30-0 victories at the polls by the BLP in 2018 and 2022 should give Barbadians reason to pause. The BLP despite making several mistakes in a brief tenure of just over three years the political opposition was unable to gain the public’s trust.   The quality of our system of government whether we like it or not is tied to the quality of individuals attracted to serve in political parties. There is that symbiotic relationship only a fool would deny.

Today makes 32 days since the last general election and except for a public position in response to a contentious offer from Prime Minister Mottley to participate in a discussion about accepting two Senate seats, the DLP has been silent and irrelevant in the public space. Sensible observers appreciate it will take the DLP time to assess, reorganize and mobilize BUT there is a reality to be considered by the DLP and onlookers. The silence coming out of George Street is consistent with the ‘glorious years’ of the Stuart administration and the longer it persists, the more difficult it will be for that party to be perceived as a credible alternative. The blogmaster is aware the DLP has skin in the game based on the matter that is before the court brought by AG Brathwaite – who we know is acting de facto for the DLP. Some of us are not so stupid to believe otherwise.

This is a cry for a different type of citizen with a passion and body of work for serving the public to join the two main political parties. An organization assumes the character of its members. If we want our governments to change how business is done, it must begin with the quality of personnel attracted to political parties. Today it is the DLP in crisis, it is not inconceivable the BLP may find itself in a similar position when Mia Mottley demits office whether for a forced or unforced reason. If that happens all of us will be adversely impacted.

The type of government we get starts with YOU!

DLP in Drift Mode

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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.

Another Abracadabra Moment

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In 2018 the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) won all 30 seats in parliament. It created what pundits described as a political dilemma for the government because the Barbados Constitution recognizes the role of the Leader of the Opposition.

At the eleventh hour Reverend Joseph Atherley who was elected to the House of Assembly on a BLP ticket decided to cross the floor and like magic the constitutional crisis was averted. Before Atherley saved the day there was a move afoot to amend the Constitution to provision for two senators to be appointed by the Governor General from the losing political party winning the most votes. The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) would have been the beneficiary of the amendment. However, we recall campaign manager Robert ‘Bobby’ Morris criticized the move to manufacturer an opposition presence in the Upper House. His reason – a political opposition should earn its place in parliament.

…Robert “Bobby” Morris, said they would rightfully reclaim their seats in the legislature in time and there was no need to take up the offer.

However, George Connolly, one of the new candidates who ran in St James Central and who lost his deposit, took an opposing view. I’ve heard the comments of ‘Bobby’ Morris and I have a lot of respect for him, but I disagree vehemently with the position that he took on that. I think we need a voice, and a senatorial voice is as good a voice as any. You can’t effect any major changes, but certainly you can have a voice. So I am in total agreement if the offer is made that it should be accepted, he told Starcom Network yesterday.

Nationnews.com

In hindsight given the outcome of last week’s general election the government should have amended the Barbados Constitution to address the lacuna in the improbable event a political party again won all the seats. A discussion being had across Barbados is whether there will be another convenient crossing of the floor by a ‘disgruntled’ BLP member days after campaigning successfully on a BLP ticket in the mold of Atherley or if the shelved 2018 amendment to the Constitution will be dusted off.

Whether there is the convenient crossing of the floor by a member of parliament to create a leader of the opposition in the Lower House or amendment to the Barbados Constitution to create same in the Upper House, it is unfortunate a dissenting voice has to be created arising from the first past the post system we practice. In this regard the blogmaster does not agree with Morris that the DLP should refuse to participate in the Upper House if the opportunity is created to do so. There are commentators like Dr.Kristina Hinds who posit a view there are avenues outside of parliament to make ones voice heard. 

The blogmaster’s view is that parliament provides a prominent space for an opposition voice in our system of government. It gives the opposition earned exposure that helps to create a national profile for the political party given the credibility it adds through participation from in the bowels of the parliamentary system. The country witnessed how former Senator Caswell Franklyn did it with good effect. We should not trivialize the optics of opposition participation in parliament by the public.

There is concern two unprecedented 30 to 0 mandates pave the opportunity for the Mottley led government to run roughshod over the views of members in civil society. Especially given her rambunctious leadership style. Decisions taken by the government of Barbados in the coming days have deep implications for our way of life to come. 

God Bless Bim!

Democratic and Barbados Labour Party Candidates 2018 vs 2022

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Posted to caribbeansignal.com

Democratic Labour Party Candidates – 2018 vs 2022

Early this morning (very early) I posted my analysis of Barbados Labour Party candidates 2018 vs. 2022. Now it’s time to have a look at the candidates the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) fielded in 2018 and what they are bringing to the 2022 elections. I will not go over the methodology used, as it is…Read More

Barbados Labour Party Candidates – 2018 vs 2022

UPDATE 1: Having received reliable information on the birth year of Senator The Hon. Kay (she is 54, not 55), I have updated The Table. No updates were required to the Discussion Points and the Age Distribution Chart. This is a revised post to the original one that was made on January 11 (and removed…Read More

Minorities Laughing

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Debate about the commitment of the two political parties honouring promises outlined in glossy manifestos aside, the documents serve a useful reference for citizens to hold political parties accountable.

All agree the last twenty years in particular have gotten progressively challenging for Barbados and Barbadians. The outgoing government with its bevy of financial consultants have focused mainly on executing macroeconomic arrangements. However, the harsh economic condition of the last decade and a half has meant less disposal income and some destruction of wealth for the middle and upper class. Of equal concern to the blogmaster is the lack of investment opportunity for wealth generation available to Barbadians, especially after the domestic debt restructure.

What does a check of the manifestos share with the public by the two main parties – Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and Barbados Labour Party (BLP) on plans to address the lack of investment opportunities?

The DLP makes no direct reference in the manifesto about a plan to create or facilitate opportunities for Barbadians to invest. It is embedded in general and vague language. The BLP’s message is more direct – see page below.

This is important because it is no secret the economic pie is disproportionately owned by minority groups in Barbados, comprised of less than 10% of the population. Why would majority Black political parties not prioritize implementing policy to afford mainly Black Barbadians greater opportunity to invest? Some will dismiss the manifestos as fluff, BUT, what else does the citizen have to hold the parties accountable?

There is little doubt in the mind of the blogmaster who added to the coffers in the last 20 years.

There is little doubt in the mind of the blogmaster who added debt.

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2022-blp-manifestoDownload
2022 DLP ManifestoDownload

A Freundel Stuart 2022 Utterance

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Former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart was promoted to speak at a DLP St. Michael South spot meeting in Britton’s Hill last night at 7PM. The blogmaster searched for a recording of the meeting to satisfy a mild curiosity about what the former Prime Minister had to add to the national discourse. Try as we might only a 1 minute clip has surfaced so far on social media.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CYkuXHoqiKO/