DLP leader parts with senator, defends new spokespersons

Leader of the Opposition Democratic Labour Party Ralph Thorne has sidestepped the removal of  Senator Tricia Watson while defending newly handpicked party spokespersons, further sparking controversy within the strife-torn party.

In his maiden address to the party’s annual conference, Thorne revealed a list of appointed spokespersons, which he described as “an impressive team of academics, professionals, and intellectuals”. The appointments include two members of the 2008-2018 Freundel Stuart Cabinet, with Richard Sealy assigned to tourism and international transport, and Dr David Estwick given economic affairs, international business, and investment, mirroring their former ministerial posts.

Thorne, who will personally oversee finance, public sector, and urban development matters, emphasised that the selections were not primarily based on expertise. 

“I didn’t do it on the basis of any expertise as such,” he told Barbados TODAY. “The only one you do in relation to expertise would be the lawyer because, obviously, you need a lawyer to handle the attorney general portfolio.”

The opposition leader rejected the characterisation of his team as a traditional shadow Cabinet, preferring to refer to them as “spokespersons”. He described the inclusion of experienced politicians like Estwick and Sealy alongside newer faces as “a marriage between experience and inexperience”.

In a move that caught many off guard, Thorne announced that lawyer and consumer advocate Tricia Watson,  one of two opposition lawmakers in the Senate, would not be returning to the Upper Chamber next month.

“By the powers vested in me by Sections 39 and 36 of the Constitution of Barbados, I announce that Senator [Ryan] Walters will be joined by a new senator when the Honourable Senate resumes its business,” he declared to rapturous applause at the party conference. 

When questioned about Watson’s removal, Thorne admitted: “No, I did not communicate it to her before, but there is a precedent.” He provided no reason for the decision. 

Watson had been viewed as a rising star on the political landscape as a chief critic of the Barbados Light and Power Company in its bid for higher electricity rates before the Fair Trading Commission.

The conference was marred by internal party tensions, with proceedings disrupted on the second day by expelled party leaders Dr Ronnie Yearwood and Steve Blackett, along with their supporters. Thorne described these individuals as “strangers to the mission”. The disruption led to the suspension of the day’s business and resulted in police being called in to strengthen security on the final day of the conference.

But Thorne claimed the events had a unifying effect on the party. 

“The events yesterday gave us fuel for today. They energised us and inspired us towards unity,” he said. “So the point is that it motivated us. It made us strong.”

Addressing the ongoing internal conflicts, Thorne was candid about the party’s future. 

“For the past few weeks, Barbadians have been telling us to unite and to go forward,” he said. “They felt that unity was not possible with certain persons, and they were urging us to press on without them.”

The DLP leader emphasised the party’s focus on collective interests over individual ambitions. However, when asked if the unrest within the party was over, Thorne placed the onus on the disruptive elements: “They will determine whether it is over. We are doing people’s business, and we are doing people’s business in the only way we know how. It is up to them to behave themselves. As far back as the St Christopher meeting, we were asking them to behave themselves, and they just refused to behave themselves. It’s as simple as that. So the answer is it is up to them.

“You don’t come into an annual conference and do what they did yesterday. You simply don’t do that. You don’t, at the end of a day’s proceedings, arrange a sitting so that we could not close the premises. I mean, that’s a criminal offence. That’s a breach of the Trespasser Property Act . . . if you ask somebody to leave your premises and refuse to do it, they’re trespassing. So that behaviour was ugly; it was unseemly, and I don’t know how they will reconcile themselves with decency. I don’t know how they’ll do it. It’s up to them.”

Thorne also highlighted the party’s ongoing “Community Connections” initiative, which involves mass canvassing across Barbados. 

“We’ve hit the ground running already,” he said. “We’ve done four mass canvases on Saturdays . . . and we are going to cover every parish.” (RG)