Moe an asset to either party’s campaign

Former Parliamentarian Hamilton Lashley says a collaboration with former Government Senator Lucille Moe as a campaign strategist for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) would be a major boost for the DEMS camp.

Lashley who served as Member of Parliament under the DLP and the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP) told Barbados TODAY that he has worked with Moe on at least three occasions and considers her one of the best campaign strategists in the Caribbean.

He said he can personally testify to her success as it relates to organizing successful political campaigns.

“She is absolutely astute. She is absolutely meticulous and she is one person that is absolutely reliable. So, with those three major components in play during any election whether it is by-election or general election, she is a formidable opponent and a formidable person in ways that could very well be the catalyst to determine the fluctuating fortunes of any political party,” he said.

“She is not a Johnny-come-lately. She is a person that I would fear tremendously if I had her working against me in those days in St Michael South East. To me, she is an equal, even to Hartley Henry. She is on that level in my view because of the things that she could get to do and how she operates. I cannot find a strategic flaw or operational flaw in the way she operates,” Lashley added.

On Thursday, the DLP General Secretary Derek Alleyne confirmed that while Moe, considered to be a personal friend of Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, would not be serving as the DLP campaign manager for the January 19, 2022 elections, she is assisting the party with strategic operations.

However, when contacted by Barbados TODAY, DLP President Verla De Peiza did not confirm or deny that Moe had joined her campaign team. But,  De Peiza who is running for the St Lucy seat noted that her team has strengths that “we draw on from many different spheres”.

Lashley, who stressed that he is also awaiting official word from the DLP that Moe is working with the campaign, said she has the ability to boost the party’s chances of presenting a formidable campaign programme and organized platform. The DLP was soundly defeated in the 2018 general elections 30-0.

“If it is true and if I were Prime Minister Mia Mottley, then of course such a lieutenant general in my camp I could not afford to lose her. Whatever differences that I might have with her or she might have with me, I would have to heal those wounds for the benefit of the party and certainly for the benefit of the political process in Barbados.

“It would be a tremendous loss and it would have serious implications for the strategic operations during these next three weeks for the Barbados Labour Party. And I think that the best thing that could happen is if there is a rift that that rift be healed at this time. If not, then the Democratic Labour Party is going to benefit,” he said. (AH)