Estwick vows to rebuild DLP as ‘govt-in-waiting’

Former cabinet minister Dr David Estwick, the newly elected president of the Democratic Labour Party, has pledged to rebuild the party into a “government-in-waiting”, promising a shift from reactive criticism towards developing and presenting alternative policies.

He made the declarations after winning the presidential election at the party’s 71st annual general conference at the DLP’s George Street headquarters on Saturday night.

The new president, who held the agriculture and economic affairs portfolios during the 2010-2018 Freundel Stuart administration, is one of the party’s “old guard”.

Dr Estwick said he was determined to create a system focused on finding solutions rather than pointing fingers.

“I want to establish a system that finds solutions to the problem facing the party. The Democratic Labour Party must become a government in waiting. This will be one of the fundamental principles of my presidency. I understand representative politics, I understand opposition politics and I understand ministerial government. I now bring those experiences and determination to the task at hand.”

He said the DLP must be honest about what is wrong within the party, pointing to several weaknesses.

“Our organisations need strengthening, our policy development needs strengthening, our constituency machinery needs rebuilding. Our communication with Barbadian people needs improvement, our candidate development must become more systematic, our relationship with young Barbadians must be transformed and we must develop a culture in which competence, preparation, discipline and service are valued,” said Dr Estwick. “I will not establish a commission simply to find people to blame. I want to establish a system that finds solutions to the problem facing the party.”

Dr Estwick also told those who were not selected for leadership that they were not excluded and were needed.

“There will be no victors and vanquished. There will be no first class democrats and second class democrats, there will be one Democratic Labour Party…the divisions must be put aside, now we must work together in the interest of the people.”

The new president believes the party must be ready to actively present solutions to problems facing the country before the government makes a mistake.

He proposed establishing advisory councils on economic and financial matters, parliamentary and legal affairs and social development to advise the president and party spokespersons.

“These policy groups will be capable of researching, dissecting and developing alternatives in economic growth and investment, cost of living and taxation, housing, healthcare, education, agriculture and food security, water security, energy, national security, pension and social protection, youth development, technology and artificial intelligence. We will not tell Barbarians what they want in here simply because it is politically convenient.”

Dr Estwick also disclosed plans for young people and the future of the party. He said one of the major responsibilities of his presidency was to develop the party’s future leadership.

“We must deliberately develop the leaders of tomorrow and the young Democrats must be given responsibility…Therefore, I will ask the councils to restart the Sir James Cameron Tudor Institute of Politics and I will ask them to give us the support to have it functional within 60 days.”

He explained its significance.

“Our young politicians must learn how government works, somebody has to explain how government works. They must learn how to communicate and what is also very important, they must learn how to organise. They must learn how to participate in politics; they must eventually learn how to lead.”

Dr Estwick said be believed his presidency should not be judged by the leaders he appoints, but “by the leaders I helped to create”.

He advocated for a modern party that could go into 2026 and beyond with modern communication strategies and infrastructure.

“We must have the professional research capability, and I indicated earlier, within it comes the framework. We must develop a modern strategy, and we must also execute a facility to train our young in the Democratic Labour Party so that they understand and can better execute the agenda of the party.”

The new president, however, warned against using technology to replace personal contact, stressing the need to engage actively with communities.

“We must therefore use technology…a computer does not shake nobody’s hand, a computer does not look in the face. Yes, we will use the computer and social media, but we must also get in the constituencies and knock on doors.”

He said this was essential to rebuilding trust, but warned that members should not expect Barbadians to trust immediately.

“Trust must be earned. We will earn it through our conduct. We will earn it through the quality of our ideas. We will earn it through how we treat people. We will earn it through the way we conduct ourselves in public life, and we will earn it through our willingness to admit when we are wrong, and through our commitment to put Barbados before ourselves-that is how you built us through a political organisation.”

He warned that rebuilding trust would require sacrifice, discipline and putting aside personal ambitions for the greater good.

“I am not going to promise you that rebuilding the DLP will be easy, it will take time, it will require sacrifice. It will require discipline. It will require some of us to put aside personal ambitions for the greater good, and it will require all of us to accept that change sometimes remains and means doing things differently from the way they were all done.”

He appealed to all Democrats to create a party that is “modern, disciplined, intellectually strong, socially responsible, and ready to govern”.

(LG)