Why change?

Political scientist says no reason to replace Yearwood as DLP leader By Shamar Blunt As far as political scientist Devaron Bruce is concerned, there is nothing to warrant Dr Ronnie Yearwood being removed as president of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). In fact, he said, none of the DLP leader’s challengers have justified the need for a new leader or that they would be best suited for the job. “I think politics is really about political openings, and the individuals who are challenging Dr Yearwood, who is the incumbent, I believe would have to really justify the reasons why they are running,” Bruce said in an interview with Barbados TODAY amid public discussion on the leadership race that has heated up with the DLP’s third vice-president Ryan Walters and former government ministers Richard Sealy and Dr David Estwick vying for the position. He said the party has “seemingly taken hold” of Dr Yearwood who defeated Estwick for the presidency in May last year. “You have an individual who has governed the party for the last couple months – a year and some – and I don’t think the party has resoundingly said ‘no’ to him in any form or fashion. There has been some criticism of Dr Yearwood but I think the majority of persons recognise that he is a hard worker, recognise that he is an intelligent individual, and recognise he wants what is best for the party going forward,” Bruce said. Noting that the current leader received the lion’s share of the nominations ahead of voting at the DLP’s August 18-20 annual general conference, getting the support of 14 branches compared to Walters’ four, Estwick’s two and Sealy’s one, Bruce said “the party seems to be quite comfortable with the leadership of Dr Yearwood thus far”. “I think also, nationally, Barbadians have also seen Dr Yearwood as the leader of the Democratic Labour Party. He has been out there in the media space, he has been in the policy space…. So, again, the question has to be, where do the Dr Estwicks and the Ryan Walters and the Sealys see their political opening?” he questioned. Bruce added that though disagreements within political parties were nothing new and there was always room for improvement within the DLP, particularly in light of the second consecutive 30-nil defeat at the polls in 2022, Dr Yearwood had not shown any glaring weakness that warranted his removal. “Of course there are areas for improvement. I’ve heard, for instance, [Dr Yearwood] talking about building back the base; I’m sure work has been done on that. I think they will all agree that a base needs to be strong. There may be a disagreement here in regards to how things are communicated or disagreements regarding policy… but, again, I don’t see where the political opening is that says ‘yes, there is something so fundamentally wrong with Dr Yearwood that he has to go’,” the political scientist said. He suggested that the party’s focus should instead be on veteran members handing over the reins to younger party members who show some promise, contending that the lack of succession planning has cost the DLP dearly. “It’s interesting that you don’t see that transition where they recognise ‘okay, I have been here for some time, I have made my contributions and I probably should adjust the way I contribute towards my party’. Not having to lead it but really give guidance to younger persons moving forward. That is why the Barbados Labour Party has been so successful – because they have embraced younger persons,” Bruce asserted. “The reality is that younger persons, I believe, have been attracted to Dr Yearwood. We have seen him be able to bring on young talent…. You have seen the fresh [faces], you have seen the new energy, you have seen younger persons coming on board. “You have a situation where the party has not done as well in the last two elections, you have a situation where the party has not done very well in government in its last administration, and you have a situation where young persons saw that and want something different and want something fresh. It’s not just young persons, the electorate also said a similar thing. They said ‘no’ twice, in essence, and ‘no’ to two of the candidates that are running right now, so that has to say something going forward. The party has to look to its future,” he added. shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb]]>