As cracks within the hierarchy of the 69-year-old Democratic Labour Party (DLP) continue to widen, political experts, including a prominent strategist, have advised the urgent replacement of either one or both of the current leaders, political leader Ralph Thorne and president Dr Ronnie Yearwood, as a start towards a major repair job.
Their assessment comes as a second weekend of internal discontent and acrimony passed in full public view, with general secretary Steve Blackett coming out against Thorne. This followed one faction opposing Yearwood and Blackett.
Following a meeting of the membership at DLP headquarters, George Street, St Michael on Sunday, the general secretary announced to reporters that he had moved two resolutions – one expressing confidence in Yearwood and the other of no-confidence in Thorne, calling for the revocation of his membership and expulsion from the party. The week before, party stalwart Hartley Reid called for the ouster of Dr Yearwood, Blackett and the entire party leadership, a move Thorne backed.
On Monday, regional political strategist Hartley Henry who led the BLP to its last two election victories and helped the DLP win the government in 2008, dismissed the present leadership in George Street as unfit for the job.
“What you have is what Owen Arthur described as a bunch of wild boys taking hold of a political party and essentially doing all sorts of nonsense,” he said on Down to Brass Tacks on VOB on Monday. “That is why I am saying the solution to the Democratic Labour Party is not going to be found in these factions.”
He advised that under the party’s constitution, which he said needs to be changed, there can only be one political leader, who is Thorne.
“Ralph Thorne is not saleable in 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 as the person to go up against Mia Mottley in any general election. Your number of options are too few. I do not see Ronnie Yearwood with all of this damage that is being done now and with the divisions, succeeding.
“He will survive until August, but to my mind, if the Democratic Labour Party is to have a chance to emerge and be taken seriously, I believe it needs to go shopping [for new leaders],” the political advisor added.
Henry is of the view that the DLP can bounce back if it applied the correct strategies: “What you need to do is to remove all of these distractions and identify what will it take in 2026, ’27 to come up with a candidate that can go up against Mia Mottley. If you do not keep Mia Mottley at the centre of your discussion, you are doing nothing.
“What you need is an end to self-interest, an end to greed, an end to short man syndrome, and an end to people believing that they have a God-given right to be in positions. You need to vacate the position of president of the Democratic Labour Party, you need to vacate the position of general secretary of the Democratic Labour Party [and] you need to vacate the position of political leader.”
Political scientist Dr Kristina Hinds contended that the persistent public squabbling has seriously damaged any chances the party may have had to put the Mia Mottley administration on the back foot at the next poll.
“The members need to get themselves together and work out their differences behind the scenes. It doesn’t mean that everyone will agree, but they have to agree on a way forward, because they are doing themselves some damage in the eyes of the public,” the head of the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill told Barbados TODAY.
“Listening to some of what has come out of that meeting yesterday, they are also doing themselves some damage in the eyes of their members. So, they really have to work quickly to iron out their matters, whether that means that someone is going to step back or step down.”
Dr Hinds also argued that if an election were called tomorrow, Barbadians would not accept the DLP as a viable alternative government in light of “the confusion” now taking place within the organisation which was founded by National Hero and Father of Independence, the Right Excellent Errol Barrow.
“What they are showing people is that they cannot manage their internal affairs. So people may be wondering, ‘if you cannot manage your own internal affairs, disputes within your political party, how are you going to manage the affairs of a whole country? How are you going to manage the affairs of a number of constituencies?’ So, they are doing themselves some serious damage by continuing to play out their differences in the public eye.”
The former independent senator recommended that those in power in the DLP need first to agree on a working relationship before going to the general members to discuss the prevailing fractures.
The disputing administrators need to see the forthcoming general election as the big picture and look for new leadership, she declared.
Dr Hinds said: “They need to make themselves a viable option, and they do need to have leadership that people can get behind. I am not certain Ralph Thorne is that person. I think Ronnie Yearwood had the opportunity to be that person, but these recent developments have certainly weakened his ability to do so. I agree with Hartley Henry that they need to start looking for someone to bring a new image to the party . . .not only bring a new image, but who can actually lead the party.”
She said she has identified a “couple” of options for leadership within the party, but declined to make them public.
UWI political science lecturer Dr George Brathwaite agreed that the current in-fighting among the DLP hierarchy will make it more difficult for Thorne and, by extension, Yearwood, to establish the DLP as an effective option for government.
He told Barbados TODAY: “I thought they would recognise that they need to get their campaign in gear and be unified if they are to project any viable alternative. I don’t think that is what they want to do. They prefer to have their egos before the institution. So, the Democratic Labour Party will keep bleeding.”
Dr Brathwaite agreed with his fellow experts that while the DLP may survive as a party, its chances at the next polls are poor.
“Whether they can become a contestable and positive alternative within the next two years is highly unlikely. It is possible, but are any of these leaders of the down-to-earth calibre and open approach of [late Prime Minister] David Thompson? I don’t think so.”
The university academic was particularly harsh on Thorne for the manner in which he returned to the DLP, suggesting he should now become an independent.
“If Thorne knew he was coming to the Democratic Labour Party and he appointed senators before his move to enter the Democratic Labour Party, he came with an agenda and a plan, and that is what undermines the leadership and the executive, and then to publicly go on record, it would have been better to remain silent and let Hartley Reid say what he had to say. But then to publicly endorse the statements by Reid, is to throw fuel to the fire. So, I do see it now that Ralph Thorne must be perceived as a troublemaker,” he said.
Regional pollster Peter Wickham suggested the latest developments as signalling “a point of no return for the Democratic Labour Party, in the sense that you have had an open declaration from Steve Blackett against the political leader”.
He said that before Blackett’s announcement of the no-confidence motion against Thorne, he felt that behind-the-scenes efforts were being made to resolve the fractures, but now decisive action has to be taken.
“My sense is that one of the three of them has to go. My personal preference is that if you essentially threw Blackett under the bus, it would give the opportunity for the other two to mend fences. But, I can’t see realistically going forward, after you had a situation where Blackett has done what he has done, to have a situation where he can then sit with the political leader and work out some kind of a plan,” Wickham said.
He pointed out that even though he is anxious for a resolution away from the public spotlight, it is not to going to end well.
“In a situation like this, with an open declaration of war, one of the three heads will have to roll,” Wickham argued.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
