#BTColumn – Inspiration ought to be authentic

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Dr Derek Alleyne

Many academics assume an air of indifference to politics and politicians and involvement in matters political often comes through personal contact with a leader. That is not to say that academics have no political leanings for many of them have but mask the preference in a veil of objectivity.

In a conversation with a senior academic assigned to an overseas university, following what appeared to be an image of Prime Minister Mia Mottley annoyed by Bajans’ slow response to taking the vaccine, the Bajan advised that my focus on Miss Mottley’s management of Barbados was in his words “unfair”. His position was that all hands were needed to fight off the menace that was facing Barbados.

He affirmed that while the government and people of this small state engage the energy, endurance and strength of character needed to survive this pandemic, to move the focus from this threat would be to reflect an unconscionable disposition of opposition to the government and people. “It would be nothing but partisan politics,” he said. I agreed with him and admitted that as an opposition person while I had a duty to support government initiatives it was also my responsibility to point out deficiencies and errors in policy and programme offerings and the processes adopted.

Managing small states presents an ongoing challenge of the leadership’s strength of character, focus and belief in the policy initiatives advanced to meet the specific challenges and overall objectives of the administration. As aptly demonstrated by the rule of President Donald Trump, the character, focus and beliefs of the leader impact the administrations’ ability to maintain a collective agenda focus. So it has been in Barbados with the dominant self-driven disposition of the Prime Minister of Barbados. Like Trump everything is about her.

The problem with this type of leadership is that it is built on loyalty to the individual and takes as treasonous, any opposition to the leader. Loyalty brings with it benefits but disloyalty leads to banishment and sometimes more severe punishment. The cases of John King, George Payne, Edmund Hinkson, Dr. Rommel Springer and even Trevor Prescod are prime examples of a leader exemplifying this form of behaviour.

I pointed out to my esteem friend that the management of the pandemic has in my view provided suspicions of inauthenticity by the government where Barbadians may interpret the double speak as the politician knowingly making false statements, or deliberately violating publicly-enshrined norms. Research shows that politicians will mislead only to the extent that they do not expect to be caught (Hahl et al, 2018). At this critical time in the management of the pandemic the double speak has led to distrust by Barbadians of the safety of the vaccine on offer.

Trying to inspire Barbadians to accept the word of the Prime Minister loses the battle on the field of credibility. After months of feel good gibberish and mounting minutes of public broadcasts, Barbadians have become cynical about messages emanating from Bay Street.

Sufficient academics have raised doubts about the value of taking the vaccine and of taking the AstraZeneca brand in particular. Some countries including South Africa and Germany have halted the use of the vaccine. After complaints that the vaccine was not responding to the new variant, an article by Eliza Mackintosh, in a CNN report, informed that “an AstraZeneca spokesperson said that the company was working with Oxford University to adapt the vaccine against the B.1.351 variant so “it is ready for autumn delivery should it be needed.” Several other manufacturers have said they are trying to address the issue of variants by developing booster shots.

A picture circulating in the same social media, that the Prime Minister now denounces, shows the PM taking a shot. Are Barbadians to accept the post as authentic or should it be treated like the original announcement without the presence of the press or a photo? The image of the Governor General was enough for me as proof of authenticity but of the PM????. My friend became annoyed showing his choice of RED!

Dr Derek Alleyne is a trade unionist, social commentator and member of the Democratic Labour Party.