By Shamar Blunt
Whatever the outcome of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) presidential election this weekend, members must focus on rebuilding the party’s base and growing its membership if the political organisation is ever to be ready to face the electorate.
That view was shared by political scientists Dr George Belle, Devaron Bruce, and Senator Dr Kristina Hinds who spoke to Barbados TODAY ahead of the vote in which former government ministers Richard Sealy and Dr David Estwick and businessman Ryan Walters are seeking to take the leadership of the party from Dr Ronnie Yearwood.
The vote is being taken at the DLP’s three-day 68th annual general conference which began on Friday.
Dr Belle said that although he was not in a position to say who has the best chance of victory, former DLP president Verla DePeiza’s endorsement of Walters, who has been very vocal about the party’s need to rebuild, was an interesting development.
“That is an alliance which will have to be taken into consideration because up till now, she is the [person] with the strongest backing until she surrendered the leadership, and she is saying that she is throwing her weight behind Mr Walters.
“Essentially, what he has been stressing is the rebuilding from the base of the party, and that means that you are really preparing the party for future activities, and to come back to former strength,” he said.
The former university lecturer added that, in his view, during the past few months, the party appeared to be slowly but surely learning from some of its past mistakes.
“I found that both Mr Walters’ and Dr Estwick’s statements demonstrate some amount of stabilising of mature political positions within the Democratic Labour Party, in a way that we have not seen for a little while. The alliance between Mr Walters and Ms De Peiza will have to be watched, and Dr Estwick has come out in a calmer, steadier way in his presentation and his proposals.
“These things suggest that the party is starting to learn from its mistakes and that we could be approaching a period of genuine reconstruction. I don’t know how long that would take, but it looks like the party is getting ready to steady itself under credible leadership. If that is so, that is a positive for its future,” he said.
Senator Hinds sees the election as an open field for all four contenders but stressed the importance of the party uniting behind its leader after the vote.
She said prolonged challenges will not result in favourable outcomes in future national elections.
“I think it’s fair game, it’s anybody’s election to win. The endorsement by Verla DePeiza probably will be helpful to Ryan Walters, [but] I think it should be an interesting turnout [for] the election. What I would also say is that I think the DLP needs to settle down on their leadership if they are going to seriously be contesting an election in 2027 or before. They really need to settle the leadership question and have a level of continuity going forward [with] whoever they decide to be the president,” she said.
The political scientist noted that while the new interest from young people in the party was welcomed, the DLP leader would need support from members of a wide age range.
“They certainly need to grow the membership base; I would think yes, you need younger persons to join the political party but I would also say that they need the entire cross-section of the voting population. So while it is important to grow the ranks of the younger members, I think it is also important for them to focus on the different age categories, particularly those who are more likely to vote, which tend to be towards middle-age and older, 30s and above,” she said.
“I don’t think Dr Yearwood has a monopoly on encouraging people to join a political party. So even if he is not successful, the new president, executive, and the party as a whole, should continue to focus on growing the membership and revitalising the political party, or it will die.”
Meanwhile, Bruce said that given DLP general secretary Steve Blackett’s disclosure last Thursday that more than 500 new people, the majority of whom were young people, were added to the membership of the 68-year-old political organisation in recent months, Dr Yearwood may hold a slight advantage going into the election, given his apparent appeal to the younger demographic.
“Persons joining the party and membership of the party is one thing, persons showing up to vote is another. The candidates would certainly have to mobilise and ensure that, in essence, they get their persons out. But as far as young persons being attracted to Ronnie Yearwood, I think that is a fair statement to make…. Whether it’s enough to get him over the line is not something that I can pronounce on, but I think given the fact that they have joined under him, given that he has that appeal towards that demographic, I think that is a fair [and] logical assumption to make,” he said.
He said he anticipated a large turnout at the election, which began on Friday and will continue on Saturday.
“I anticipate that the turnout will be high, given the fact that you have four candidates running. Two candidates who have been in the party for some time, the incumbent, and then you have another candidate as well that is relatively new to the party. Given the four persons running, I would assume that the individuals will be able to get their persons out, so I anticipate a high turnout,” he said.
