Former attorney general Adriel Brathwaite wants Barbadians to take note of what he has slammed as “autocratic tendencies” being shown by Prime Minister Mia Mottley.
Brathwaite, the former St Philip South MP in the last Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration, says he was “very concerned” about remarks made by Prime Minister Mottley at a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) St George North political meeting where a by-election has been called for October 26.
Brathwaite, who told Barbados TODAY he had not planned to return to elective politics but had not closed the door completely, said: “The Prime Minister innocently said [Sunday night] and I think innocently, that Floyd Reifer said that he wants to have big works in St George North and she said ‘what big works?’ there can’t be any big works unless it comes through her.
“She was basically saying that nothing of significance can happen in this country unless she signs on. So if you have something and you want to get planning permission she is basically saying it cannot happen without me.
“We should all be concerned. And we should not be taking this comment lightly. We should all be concerned. I am concerned. I am very concerned.”
Brathwaite, who was among the complete slate of DLP candidates swept out in a historic 2018 general election, said with Mottley’s overwhelming victory at the polls and a fledgling Opposition, there was now a growing concern for governance on the island and for people who may hold an opposing view.
The DLP member said he was worried about the “autocratic nature of where our politics is going”.
He added: “In other words, we have reached the stage where our Prime Minister of the day has made a determination that it is her way or no way at all.”
In the absence of an effective Opposition in Parliament and with seemingly no one within her party “who can say to her, Prime Minister we agree to disagree and to have a voice”, Brathwaite said Mottley was having her way on everything.
“I cannot understand how a man representing the people of St George North for 26 years, and he comes out and says he is finished. What Gline Clarke should tell the people of St George North and Barbados is why now? Is it because he has taken his 30 pieces of silver and betrayed them or whatever challenges there are?
“Is it that the Prime Minister has determined that this is what she wants and it is what she must have? We should all be concerned about what is happening in Barbados from the point of view that the Prime Minister has determined that it is her way or no way at all,” Brathwaite added.
Clarke announced on September 20 at a branch meeting in his constituency that he had been offered a diplomatic post in Canada by the Prime Minister and he would be leaving the constituency that has become a stronghold for the BLP for over two decades.
Since then, Toni Moore the Barbados Workers’ Union general secretary and an independent senator in the Upper House, was chosen by PM Mottley to be the BLP’s candidate to replace Clarke.
Last week, the DLP named former national and West Indies cricketer and West Indies coach Floyd Reifer as its man to contest the seat against Moore.
Grenville Phillips II will represent Solutions Barbados, while the People Party for Democracy and Development will be represented by David Waldron. (IMC1)
