Solutions Barbados membership rising,says party leader

Close to a year after losing most of its members to party infighting, the head of opposition party Solutions Barbados claims it has rebounded well and that its membership is on the rise again.

Party founder Grenville Phillips II has suggested the organisation has weathered the storm in which his leadership was challenged by several key figures following a noteworthy performance in the 2018 general elections, in which it amassed the most votes among the fringe parties.

Several people who ran on the Solutions Barbados ticket last year now form the core of the Opposition People’s Development Party (PDP), led by Leader of the Opposition Joseph Atherley.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Phillips dismissed the controversy as water under the bridge and said the party was again picking up momentum.

He said: “In my view we are the most active party of all the parties.

“We are the ones that produce press releases every single week and we publish them on social media, and they get quite a bit of feedback from the public.

“Our membership is back where it was and still growing.”

But the Solutions Barbados leader declined to identify the new members. He claimed that many of then feared victimization and therefore preferred to work from the shadows.

Phillips said: “Some of my members are concerned with victimization and there are certain political operatives who have taken things said on the political campaign very seriously and therefore they see it as their role to persecute those who do not share their views.”

He insisted that he does not believe that Cabinet Ministers are involved in the alleged victimization.

He added: “This is a very unfortunate situation because everybody should be allowed to work. We have situations where political operatives are calling your clients to get you fired.

“This should not happen in Barbados.

“So I told my members that unless you are comfortable speaking publicly and have no problem being a target, then they should remain out of that limelight.”

He further explained that in addition to the fear of victimization, the party has taken the decision not to unduly criticize the Government merely because they were in opposing camps.

He pointed out that it was important to give the Mottley administration a chance to execute their plans and only speak out as a party when the administration was clearly leading the country down a disastrous road.

He told Barbados TODAY: “We took the decision as a party not to speak out unnecessarily.

“We all agreed that we are going to give the Government a chance to do what they need to do. We are not going to just criticize for criticizing sake.

“Every single thing that we do must be a solution.

“So therefore, any comment that comes from a member of Solutions Barbados, whether they identify themselves or do it anonymously, it must be accompanied by a solution.” colvillemounsey@barbadostoday.bb