DLP leader blasts critics over Independence snub

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has come out swinging against critics who last week slammed its decision to reject the government’s invitation to attend Independence Day official celebrations.

“A lot of people want to be politicians in disguise without coming into the ring or have failed political ambitions,” declared DLP President Dr Ronnie Yearwood in a 1,657-word response that did not identify the critics.

“If you have made a conscious decision not to get in the ring, don’t then pretend you have all or own all the views from the sidelines and you are some moral arbitrator. There is a lot of entitlement on call-in radio and social media, faking as public voices.”

The response after three prominent political watchers, Professor Don Marshall, Dr Kristina Hinds and Peter Wickham, in separate interviews, branded the DLP snub “silly,” a “red herring” and a “misuse of time”. Their comments came after Yearwood delivered a three-page letter to Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s office at Government Headquarters.

In the letter, Yearwood expressed the party’s appreciation for the invitation but conveyed that it was “with a heavy heart that we must respectfully decline your invitation to attend this momentous event”. The rejection, as outlined by Yearwood, was not taken lightly and was grounded in the party’s commitment to respecting the will of the Barbadian people.

Declaring that the DLP had evaluated the circumstances surrounding Barbados’ shift to a parliamentary republic, Dr Yearwood said his party was concerned about perceived attempts to rebrand Independence Day as Republic Day.

The three political scientists, however, baulked at Yearwood’s suggestion and argued that the DLP leader could have used his time wisely to address more serious issues plaguing the country.

But in an equally robust response on Monday, Yearwood, apparently taking a dig at his critics, told them he can sleep well at night.

He told Barbados TODAY: “I don’t hold anything or anyone in my heart for their lack of understanding of my sense of responsibility in doing something my consciousness told me to do – the right thing. That may be hard to understand in a ‘what is trending’ sort of social space and some people trying to fit in with a crowd, or as lambs trying to run with wolves.”

He continued: “We are used to too many two-faced public figures… [that] … say one thing and do another. So, I know it is strange for some critics not to get how someone says something and mean it. I am consistent in thought, word, and deed. If I stand alone on what’s right, I am happy to do so. I am reminded that the Good Word tells me, ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will’.”

A defiant party leader repeated his contention that the Mottley administration was seeking to rebrand Independence Day as Republic Day.

“After attending the Independence Day Church Service styled as the Independence Day Church Service, much to our surprise, we received another invitation to the parade with additional styling using the term ‘Republic Day’. This is a not-so-subtle attempt to rename or merge Independence Day with Republic Day,” he insisted.

Yearwood recalled that last year, the DLP launched a petition signed by 8 000 Bajans, stressing that the country also mobilised to reject renaming Independence Day.

He told detractors they should open their minds and a history book, and do some homework.

The DLP leader further urged them to focus on the absence of a new republican constitution.

“That,” Yearwood insisted, “is what the commentators should focus on. Imagine if Barrow had come to Barbados without an Independence constitution. We said at the time, the approach to republicanism, having a republic first and constitutional reform afterwards, was backward and would be messy and create confusion. Now, sadly, we are proven correct.”

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb