Hours after the announcement that Barbados Labour Party MP John King won’t be seeking re-election, the Democratic Labour Party declared it has picked a “well-known” candidate to contest the St Philip West seat but its leader is staying mum on the candidate’s identity.
With King’s withdrawal after a single term in the House of Assembly came word that Senator Kay McConney is the BLP’s replacement for the incumbent in the next general election, constitutionally due in 2023.
The constituency, which prior to the 2018 General Election was considered partial to the DLP, remains among a handful of ridings for which the DLP has not declared a candidate.
When contacted on Monday, DePeiza said: “Someone has been chosen, they’re on the ground working, but we have not named that person yet.”
She said the unnamed candidate is “very well known to the constituents”.
Asked directly whether Dr David Estwick, who served as MP in three consecutive terms from 2003 to 2018 had been chosen to stand in St Philip West, the DLP leader said it was the chosen person who explicitly asked that their name be withheld for the time being.
Numerous efforts to reach Dr Estwick for comment have been unsuccessful.
DePeiza has raised questions about the departure of John King, which followed closely behind City MP and health minister Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic’s withdrawal from active politics at the next election, suggesting it was an “indictment” on the leadership of Prime Minister Mottley.
“This must be the first time in the history of Barbados that two sitting Cabinet members in their very first term in Cabinet, have signalled their desire to exit politics,” DePeiza told party supporters. “This can be viewed as an indictment on the leadership of the Prime Minister, in her very first term.
“And it begs the question: Who is next on the chopping block? And what really did he [John King] mean by his comment: ‘The politicizing of everything,’ There’s more in the mortar than the pestle.”
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb
