The promised Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) was legally constituted today. Acting President of Barbados Reverend Jeffrey Gibson administered the oath in the absence of President Sandra Mason. Some will say it is better late then never. Prime Minister Mottley promised before the last general election that a review of the Barbados Constitution was high on the agenda should her political
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During the 2022 General Election analysis Dr. Kristina Hinds made the point that given the overwhelming mandate the BLP received from the electorate, citizens will have to be the guardians of our democracy – words to that effect. To be expected she was descended upon like the vulture having caught a whiff of the dead. Yet here we are several
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There is the saying often posted in this space that the price of freedom (democracy) is eternal vigilance. A necessary component to safeguarding our freedom (democracy) is a relevant media. An extract from The Role of Media in Democracy: A Strategic Approach authored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) states:- A free, objective, skilled media is an essential
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Submitted by William Skinner In a recent post @TheoGazerts, suggested that my mirror image of our country, at this critical juncture, would be interesting. My mirror image of the country has not dramatically changed over the last fifty years. I still see an extremely conservative people, afraid of our past and extremely timid about our future. Too many are devoted
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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
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In recent weeks the world is being reminded how military tension in faraway countries can effect us at our front doors. We have become a global village with economies that are interdependent. Some countries blessed with natural resources will negotiate the economic tempest without catastrophic fallout, others will be exposed as not very resilient. How quickly we have forgotten the
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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
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Submitted by Roland R Clarke PhD (UPenn 95), Caribbean Energy Consultant, Member of the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN), Barbados – http://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandclarke A solution is only required when there is a problem for resolution. It seems to me that the kernel “problem” in Barbados’ governance arrangements at this time, is the failure of the President to act with timeliness in
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In the pre and post 2018 general election analysis Barbadians were and continue to be subjected to a myriad of reasons why the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) was resoundingly rejected in consecutive general elections. All kinds of analyses completed with the jargon from the world of statistics have been dumped in the public space – swing analysis, standard deviation, outlier,
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Submitted by Observing In 2020 voters turned out in high numbers and groups merged to ensure that Trump would not be President again. They succeeded. Regardless of political view, there will still always be a 40% of America that will vote for Trump. Despite the 2022 unity, the cohesion on the Democratic side though is not so certain. Back at
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Prime Minister Mottley surprised the nation during republic celebrations with the announcement international Barbadian artist was elevated to national hero status. A couple months later – post-general election with the appointment of government senators – Mottley did it again, she provisionally appointed 18 year old Khaleel Kothdiwala as a government senator. The appointment requires a change to the highest law
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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
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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
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Voter turnout by constituency extracted from caribbeansignal.com compliments of blogmaster Amit. In the euphoria of a BLP victory the government should be concerned at the diminishing interest by Barbadians to vote in elections since the 70s when the turnout hovered at mid-70s.
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A short three years ago in 2018 then Prime Minister Freundel Stuart remained in office for 90 days beyond the five year anniversary of the first sitting of parliament permitted under the Barbados Constitution. Three years later incumbent Prime Minister Mia Mottley has called a snap general election eighteen months before it is constitutionally due. The early ring of the
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The blogmaster read Wild Coot’s (Harry Russell) weekly column with interest and came away with a couple takeaways which maybe more poignant than the former banker touched on. We live in a capitalist driven society which is ‘defined’ by churning economic activity with the aim to make profit for the capitalists. We can theorize to rival the Adam Smiths and
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The blogmaster continues to follow the story regarding a call to BARP’s membership to attend the AGM- the rule requires 200 members in good financial standing to achieve a quorum. It begs the question why the Barbados Association of Retired Persons with close to thirty thousand members representing a cross section of the local population has been unable to raise
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