Caddle: Make room for poor Bajans in politics

Government MP Marsha Caddle is advocating for poor Barbadians not to be excluded from entering the political arena.

The second vice-chairman of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) spoke about the matter, which she described as a “loaded issue”, before the Parliamentary Reform Commission (PRC) on Tuesday night at the party’s headquarters.

“It is very important to be coming from where I have come from, that children of poor people can come to political service. If we continue to have a situation or if we have a situation where, historically, . . . only those who happen to come with generational wealth . . . are allowed to come to political service, then that is not democracy,” Caddle said.

“And so, whatever system we come up with, we have to find a way that any Barbadian, no matter the circumstances of their birth, can represent people if that is the will of the people.”

As it relates to campaign finance reform, the St Michael South Central parliamentary representative said the issue needs to be thoroughly researched, including reviewing systems in other countries.

“I think that we as a country are mature enough to be able to appreciate that there is a cost to democracy, there is a cost to governance, and everything that we are called to do in order to make sure that people have a vote, that people have a voice and that people are included in governance, means that we have to bear that cost together. 

“Therefore, we consider the question of campaign finance and, as some people frame it, campaign finance reform will be one of those issues, commissioners, that we do a little bit more research on. Look at what happens in other jurisdictions and have a written response,” Cadle said. (AH)