Pilgrim seeks support for DLP presidency bid

As he seeks to take over the presidency of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) this weekend, George Pilgrim is promising to turn up the pressure on the Mia Mottley administration to tackle a range of issues, while reconnecting the party with the electorate.

Making his case for election on Sunday while outlining several areas of concern, Pilgrim told a DLP branch meeting that the Government was falling short in several matters.

He said while the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has done a “fantastic” job of managing information, it was not doing so well at managing several critical issues, including that of crime.

Pilgrim told the modest gathering that “crime is spiralling out of control” while “our social capital is failing”.

“How did we get to be a society where it is so easy to murder somebody? This is not who we are. How did we get to a society where life has so little value?” he asked.

Pilgrim, who opted not to go into detail about his plans, added that a DLP under his presidency would “focus on placing more pressure on the Government to pay more attention to preserving the national environment of Barbados”.

“The issues of climate change, food security, energy security and sustainable living are among central challenges of our age and we cannot fail in our efforts to confront these challenges,” he added, while criticising the Government for not giving more assistance to the agriculture sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The public policy consultant said he was also concerned about the current lack of fiscal prudence, while questioning why “all our economic critics are now silent”.

“The DLP, under my stewardship, will advocate for fiscal discipline to be embedded in the legislative framework of Barbados . . . . I will be advocating for the passage of a fiscal responsibility law [and] the establishment of an independent fiscal commission to assist in having some oversight in that regards,” said Pilgrim, who questioned why the Integrity in Public Life Bill was defeated recently.

He also promised to pay more attention to protecting the rights of consumers and democracy: “Our current state of democracy needs fixing. Something is wrong with our democracy in Barbados.”

The former DLP general secretary said he believed in order for the party to regain the control of government it had to reengage the electorate and utilise the talents of party members to help craft policies.

“We need to focus on fixing relationships with the voters. And the only way we can do that is by going to meet them. We have to talk to the voters . . . we have to hear what the voters are saying. We did not hear them and they spoke to us and we lost the election. Now it is time to listen,” said Pilgrim, who indicated that it was also his plan to launch “a national citizen engagement programme”.

“I stand before you tonight asking you to support me as the next president of the DLP,” he said.

The party’s 65th annual conference will take place this weekend, at which time it is expected a president will be elected, as well as officers and members of the general council.

Attorney-at-law Verla DePeiza is the current DLP president. (MM)