#BTEditorial – A surprise election should meet the boring predictability of freedom, fairness and peace

In a surprise announcement, Prime Minister Mia Mottley declared January 19 as polling day in a national address as Barbadians were winding down celebrations of the extended Christmas holiday weekend and gearing up to bid farewell to a tough 2021.

Immediately the debate centred on the timing of the snap election with some describing the move as a master political stroke, while others question why the PM would take a gamble, just three years and eight months into her first term after scoring a record 30-nil election win on May 24, 2018.

The Prime Minister’s stated reason is to bring an end to apparent division in the country.

She declared: “The behaviour I am seeing emanating from certain quarters and certain positions of influence in this country is not consistent with who we say we are and who we know ourselves to be.

“My worry going into 2022 revolves around the impact of the silly season on our tone and our tenor as a nation. The impact of the silly season on our actions and our utterances. The impact of the silly season in our ability to think Barbados and what is best for this little paradise in the middle of the sea, what is best for our future as a nation.”

To call an election, a decidedly polarizing event in a country riven with partisan divisions, in a presumed bid to unite the country stretches the imagination.

What is more apparent is the importance of timing in the Prime Minister’s mind, with the ringing of the election bell days amid the heady pageant of the transition to Republican status and before Christmas buyers’ remorse can set in. It is left to the voters to reveal either the wisdom or folly of her decision.

With Nomination Day a mere six days away and D-day in 22 days, this will not be an election for the faint, the ill-prepared or even the over-confident.

Already, candidates from the two major parties, the incumbent Barbados Labour Party and the Democratic Labour Party, which is making a bid to return to Parliament, are out in the hustings.

We fully expect the People’s Party for Democracy and Development, the United Progressive Party, Solutions Barbados and perhaps others, along with independent candidates will turn up the heat in the coming days as they bid for the vote.

The short campaign we hope will impress on all political candidates to stay focused and stick to issues rather than knee-jerk mudslinging and gutter rhetoric. But we are not sanguine.

The Barbadian electorate deserves better and voters should make up in their minds from now to banish those who resort to cheap insults, lies and garbage to political purgatory.

Even more than that, we also hope that violence which has never been a feature of Barbadian elections will not rear its ugly head this time around.

The BLP, DLP, UPP and Solutions Barbados all have a duty of care as nominal custodians of this island’s enviable record for free and transparent elections. They must urge the supporters uphold the standards of decency and respect.

No doubt, the stakes in this elections are high for this newly birthed republic, given the challenges that lie ahead on both the economic and social fronts.

Notably, the country is set to draft a new constitution, boost its response to COVID-19 and threatening variants, kickstart real economic activity and job creation, and fortify itself to meet the challenge of climate change among other things.

Therefore, candidates of all political stripes must take the responsibility of offering themselves for public service seriously.

Voters, too, must use this opportunity to send a clear message to politicians that the ballot is sacred and must not be taken lightly. People matter and they deserve to come first.

Voters have a right to hear a clear and credible action plan which will advance the national interests of Barbados.

No tricks, no gimmicks, no empty promises. Spare us the political rhetoric. Confront the issues of the day and set out a realistic way ahead.

The Mottley administration should subject its stewardship to full public scrutiny and debate. We have no divine right of rule; tell the people why we should entrust you with our future for another term.

The DLP, the PdP, the UPP and Solutions Barbados and any other coming to the fore must demonstrate that they are a viable alternative to take Barbados forward. We are not merely interested in hearing of the BLP’s failings; Barbadians know them all too well and want to know why you deserve a real chance to govern this country.

The eyes of the world have been turned to Barbados with both renewed and novel interest. They have seen a new republic. It is also timely that they should be shown a mature democracy where the result, whatever it may be, is not subject to doubt, cynicism or litigious manoeuvring.

As the artist is admonished to let their life be dull but keep their art interesting, we hope this snap poll will yet be a dull exercise of the franchise with predictable freedom and fairness, peace and solemnity, guarded by strong institutions and a vigilant press and people. It is the Barbadian way.