Solutions willing to work with BLP; APP indifferent

Solutions Barbados says it has put aside “figurative political swords” and is available to work with the Mia Mottley administration which scored a second historic 30-nil general election win on Wednesday.

President Grenville Phillips II, whose party fielded 10 candidates in the poll, unreservedly congratulated the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) on its convincing victory.

He made clear that “outside of a general election season, we should be united as one people with all hands on deck” and he pledged that members of his team would use their personal reputations and professional experiences to move Barbados forward.

Phillips praised the performance of his candidates, noting that they were willing to expose their personal and professional reputations to the scrutiny of a general election campaign to be heard.

“That depth of care for Barbadians can only be highly respected and appreciated,” he said.

Phillips acknowledged that while his party and the BLP differ on several policies, Solutions Barbados will offer its perspective in a respectful manner.

“We will doubtless have policy differences with the BLP administration and will use the non-disruptive methods to be heard on these differences, in accordance with the Constitution of Barbados. May God bless the newly elected BLP administration with wisdom to govern the affairs of Barbados to the benefit of all Barbadians,” he said.

In stark contrast, the Alliance Party for Progress (APP) offered no well-wishes to the Government, only expressing thanks to election officials for conducting the polls in a professional manner and the Barbados Police Service for keeping the country safe.

APP said in a statement,: “it was encouraged by the outcome of the election that it claimed had confirmed “a massive swing away from the Barbados Labour Party”.

It also pointed out that it was clear the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) was trying to consolidate its base.

However, APP, a coalition of the People’s Party for Democracy led by Bishop Joseph Atherley and the United Progressive Party, said that it was remarkable that although the voter turnout was at its lowest, “a majority of Alliance candidates have been able to double their vote tally compared to the 2018 election”.

“These results augur well for the future of emerging political parties and suggest that Barbadians are waking up to the concept of people-centred politics,” it added.

The party also pledged to work on the “practical solutions to the many issues facing Barbados in its manifesto”, saying it would work to ensure as many of them are implemented as soon as possible. (BT)