Atherley calls for change to law to appoint Opposition Leader

Almost five months after the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) returned to office after a clean sweep at the polls, a suggestion has been made for a legislative change to ensure there is always an Opposition Leader in Parliament.

Bishop Joseph Atherley, the last man to hold the post, made the call as he remained adamant that the best interests of Barbadians are not being served without a Leader of the Opposition in the Lower House.

Atherley, who is now the chairman of the Alliance Party for Progress (APP), served as Opposition Leader from June 2018 until 2022. That position has been vacant since the Mia Mottley-led BLP captured all 30 seats in the January 19 general election.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY, Bishop Atherley, who had previously called on one of the senior Members of Parliament to cross the floor and assume the responsibility of Opposition Leader as he did at the start of the BLP’s first term, renewed his plea.

“There is a need for an Opposition and an Opposition Leader because there are several critical functions that the Opposition Leader performs under the Constitution. Of course, the election outcome has landed us with what we have and that is no official Opposition in the Parliament of Barbados.

“We have no Parliamentary Opposition and I don’t think that is in the better interest of our democracy. One has to respect the will of the people in terms of their vote, but strictly speaking, in terms of our Parliamentary practice, in terms of our decision making, in terms of things like accountability and scrutiny and public information, I think the absence of an Opposition in the Parliament of Barbados creates a deficiency in the context of our democratic practice and the better interests of the country are not necessarily being served,” said Atherley who was soundly defeated by Arthur Holder for the St Michael Central seat.

He suggested that in an effort to avoid the absence of an Opposition Leader in Parliament in the future, the laws should be changed to allow for someone to be appointed to that position, even in the event that there are no opposition MPs.

“I’m not in any way trying to say that the Government is being dictatorial or tyrannical. I’m not saying that, I want to be clear…. But I haven’t seen any indication from anybody on the Government side that they are likely to vote against any Government initiative brought to the Parliament of Barbados. They are certainly not going to scrutinise themselves, they are certainly not going to criticise themselves.

“At the end of the day, I don’t think our interests are being served. I believe that the law should have been changed to find some way of creating an Opposition entity in the absence of the vote of the people and I would think that when next we go to elections I would hope that something like that is in place and we do not come to a day again in Barbados where one party holds all the seats in the Parliament of Barbados and no official Opposition,” Atherley said.

An attempt by the Mia Mottley administration to guarantee an opposition party seats in the Senate failed earlier this year when Independent Senators did not support the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2022.

The proposed amendments would have, among other things, provided that when there is no Leader of the Opposition after a general election, the party with the second-highest number of votes selects two opposition senators.
randybennett@barbadostoday.bb