There’s a new twist to internal wrangling in the Democratic Labour Party (DLP). Efforts are now afoot to have Political Leader Ralph Thorne removed from the post and expelled from the party.
DLP General Secretary Steve Blackett confirmed this was one of two resolutions he filed Sunday evening at a members’ forum at the Errol Barrow Auditorium at George Street, St Michael. The first was a motion of confidence in party president Dr Ronnie Yearwood.
Blackett told reporters: “I moved a second motion, this time of no confidence in the political leader of this party, Ralph Anthony Thorne.”
The motion states: “Whereas the Democratic Labour Party admitted Ralph Thorne to the membership of our party on the 20th of February, 2024 becoming the political leader; and whereas since his admission to this party, the institution has experienced untold rancor, turmoil, contention and confusion.
“And whereas he in a public forum in a meeting at St Christopher Primary School on Sunday, the 14th of April, 2024 publicly endorsed the actions of a member of the Democratic Labour Party who brought the party into public ridicule, disgrace and opprobrium over a matter that was found to be invalid on its own merit and structure, and called for the removal of the entire Executive Council.
“And whereas this political organisation was on an upward trajectory and beginning to appeal to the electorate after the 2018 defeat at the polls, be it resolved that his presence in this party can no longer be tolerated by the vast majority of members and that a meeting of the members of the Standing Committee responsible for grievance be convened to discuss this motion of no confidence and rule on the content of the motion, I, the undersigned, no longer have any confidence in Ralph Thorne to be the political leader because he no longer serves the best interests of our great party and call for the revocation of his membership and the immediate expulsion from the party.”
DLP political leader Ralph Thorne (right) at the meeting this evening. At left is Assistant General Secretary of the DLP Pedro Shepherd who has expressed no confidence in party president Dr Ronnie Yearwood. (Photos by Shamar Blunt)
Blackett said the resolution will now go before the Executive Council and then on to the Grievance Committee.
He could not give a timeline for how long the process would take but insisted that the DLP can exist without a political leader but not a President or General Secretary, which are both constitutional positions.
“We existed for six years without a political leader and we were making good way. So, the question of a political leader is not here nor there. We could have gone into the next general election, of course, electing a leader to take us there and I’ll tell you that it could very well have been Dr Ronnie Yearwood leading us into the next election.
The DLP general secretary vowed not to stand idly by and allow Thorne “to drag the party down”.
Blackett admitted there were internal divisions before Thorne joined the party after severing ties with the Barbados Labour Party back in February, but insisted that his presence has deepened the divisions.
“In the beginning, I was prepared to give him a bligh. Ralph Thorne came into this party and from the get go associated himself with the dissident elements of this party, the people who were anti-leadership, who were anti-mainstream. I can’t remember a single time when Ralph Thorne has come to this headquarters and said, ‘Guys, please let me sit down and have a talk with you, the leadership of this party, the Executive Council, the president, the general secretary; not a single time.”
In contrast, Blackett’s other resolution reaffirmed his confidence in Dr Yearwood who was first elected as DLP president in May 2022 and then re-elected in August last year.
The resolution states: “Whereas since his election to the post of president, he has transformed the party for its betterment and improvements; and whereas with this steady hand of administration, the party is now becoming a viable alternative to the Barbados Labour Party administration; and whereas if he is allowed to continue his stewardship as president without encumbrances and distractions, the party can form the next government whenever the elections are called, be it resolved that the majority of the membership of our party has unreserved confidence in Dr Ronnie Yearwood’s leadership ability, his guidance superintendence and scholarship; and be it further resolved that Dr Ronnie Yearwood be given the full support to manage the party’s affairs as much as the constitution of the DLP allows unhindered, unmolested and unfettered.”
