DLP will not be rushed

Contrary to some political pundits who have expressed concern over the seemingly slow resurgence of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) following their 30-nil defeat at the polls eight months ago, the head of the party says the political entity is taking its time to rebuild its strength.

President of the DLP, Verla Depeiza, made it clear that her party will not be spreading itself thin in a futile effort to try to please everyone. “We cannot please everybody that much is clear. This is a process that has to be undertaken meticulously in order to rebuild stronger,” said De Peiza.

The DLP leader was responding to concerns raised by lecturer in Political Science at the University of the West Indies Dr Kristina Hinds, who recently warned that the DLP could face extinction if its leaders do not undertake strong rebuilding efforts and come up with a set of strategies to reclaim confidence in the party.

Dr Hinds suggested that there was no guarantee the DLP would remain a political force although it has been around some 60 years.

However, De Peiza fired back, stating that her party was taking things in stride, tackling the high priority issues first. She told Barbados TODAY that part of the recovery effort must include learning from the mistakes that led to the DLP’s decimation in the May 2018 elections.

“We are tackling two things at the same time. One is to ensure that we never find ourselves back in this position again and the other is to speak to what is current. What is current is our country’s financial position and one cannot say that we have not responded to what involves the country financially. We have always made ourselves available and fully accessible,” stressed De Peiza.

So far only two persons have publicly expressed an interest in being part of the DLP’s slate at the next poll. Businessman Ryan Walters has his eyes set on contesting the St Michael North West seat, which was previously held by former Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler. More recently, former president of the Barbados Union Teachers Pedro Shepherd has written to the DLP executive to contest the St Michael South East seat.
colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb