Shame on DLP, suggests Mottley

If Barbados’ Father of Independence – The Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow, the country’s late Prime Minister David Thompson or any other outstanding political leaders were alive today, they would be embarrassed with the current state of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP).

That was the position of sitting Prime Minister Mia Mottley in response to the party’s decision not to take part in the upcoming national debates in the lead-up to the St George North by-election.

Meanwhile, the party’s candidate Toni Moore has vowed not to speak on her opponents as they had “diminished their own relevance”.

Addressing reporters after Moore’s nomination on Monday, Mottley expressed disappointment with the state of the party and suggested its current leaders go back to the drawing board before attempting to represent citizens of this country.

“This is not the party of Errol Barrow. This is not the party of David Thompson. Both Errol Barrow and David Thompson would have been embarrassed with a party that does not know how to debate and both of them would have walked away from this,” the PM told journalists at the Valley Resource Centre in St George.

“I am saying to you that I know those men and what is now masquerading as a political party in the Democratic Labor Party is a far cry.

“This is the first time in 30 years that I know of a government saying ‘come, let us talk. We are facing serious problems in the country, globally, and we want to discuss with the people what the issues are, and how we may come together to go through them,’ and this is the first time that I have seen people who want to represent people, who are not in government who would normally be the ones calling for a debate, saying they are not in any debate,” she further lamented.

Of the three opposition parties that have boycotted the debates, the PM appeared to be most disappointed with the DLP, which is the country’s second oldest party and by far the most established opposition party.

Last week, DLP President Verla DePeiza and the party’s election candidate Floyd Reifer rejected the debates, arguing that they were not focused on the interests of people in St George North. This decision was followed by the United Progressive Party (UPP) and the People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PdP) which is the lone opposition party with a seat in Parliament.

Nevertheless, Mottley, took aim at the DLP’s decision to hosting “shop limes” and “bus crawls” at a time when the political class ought to be getting serious about “the people’s business” amid the social and economic challenges of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Adding insult to injury, the PM declared that it was the first time in her 30-year political career that an opposition party has sought to “run” from debates.

“It is of concern to me that at the very time that the country needs our political class to be as focused and serious as possible, that we have the unfortunate situation where people are not agreeing that ideas should contend. That is what a debate is about,” Mottley argued.

“The opposition parties therefore have to determine whether in the third decade of the 21st century and in the middle of the greatest crisis in almost a century since The Great Depression, whether they are serving the people of Barbados well by running from a discussion on the issues and running from the debate.

“Get serious and get back to the table. Get back to the George Street [headquarters] and come to the people of Barbados with a credible programme that represents the basic fundamentals of democracy and politics as we have practiced it in this country,” the PM suggested.

Along with Mottley, the BLP candidate was accompanied by a multitude of supporters including sitting Members of Parliament and Ministers of Government. Moore, who is General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) was nominated by outgoing St George North MP Gline Clarke and seconded by Granville Leach.

Meantime, Moore described the event as a “defining moment in time” for constituents and working-class Barbadians in general.

“I am humble enough to admit that this process has fortified my commitment to serve working-class people and their families and to ensure that all Barbadians can have a better life. This is the mission of the Barbados Workers’ Union and the mission that must be in focus in the coming months and the coming years as we sail this ship called Barbados into calmer waters,” she told reporters.
(KS)