The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) appeared to be at its closest point in six years to returning to the House of Assembly and ending an unprecedented period in parliamentary wilderness as Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne applied for party membership on Friday.
But the matter is not a done deal, party insiders have said. And Thorne has hinted that the move might have already created a rift that he said he intends to heal.
Exactly a week after defecting from the ruling Barbados Labour Party, the formal application was made in the absence of DLP president Dr Ronnie Yearwood and general secretary Steve Blackett, prompting a senior member to express disappointment at the way “things were done”.
But that key member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to comment further.
While the Christ Church South MP was embraced by party stalwarts Dr Derek Alleyne and Patrick Gollop among other supporters on his arrival at party headquarters on George Street, his decision to rejoin more than 20 years after walking away is not yet assured.
“The matter is now in the hands of the executive council,” is all that Blackett would tell Barbados TODAY when asked to comment.
The party’s general council is set to meet on Tuesday, but a senior official suggested the executive council should meet before then to quickly address Thorne’s application for membership.
According to Section 4 (1)(a) of the DLP Constitution, “the General Secretary shall first check the completed Membership Application Form for accuracy, and then submit the form to the earliest possible meeting of the Executive Council, which shall thereupon approve or otherwise deal with the application as it thinks fit.”
After its first 30-0 shutout in the 2018 general election, Labour backbencher Bishop Joseph Atherley who crossed the floor to take up the vacant opposition leader position, remained outside of the DLP and eventually formed his own organisation after weeks of intense speculation.
With the second similar outcome at the 2022 polls, followed by Thorne crossing the House to be the sole opposition member and leader, speculation has mounted that Thorne would return to the party he abruptly left in 2003 to campaign for Owen Arthur’s third term in the BLP.
Speaking to reporters before submitting his membership application, Thorne declared his decision to join a political party rather than form a new one was an act of humility.
“I practise humility; and I think it is an act of humility to come to a party…an established party, a party with a proud history, and say to that party, will you have me,” the senior legal counsel declared.
“And if they will have me, they will have all of my energies to ensure, not party victory, but to ensure that the people of this country who are under the weight of an oppressive government, that they can find victory against the enemy of poverty, against the enemy of doubt, against the enemy of hopelessness and despair, against the enemy of a loss to the right to free speech.”
Thorne said that even though he is returning to the party to “join the leadership” he will “abide by the DLP’s constitution” which provides for the Opposition Leader to become its political leader. Under the party’s constitution, once Thorne, a sitting MP, is accepted, he automatically becomes its political leader.
He told reporters: “Let us honour the constitution. Whatever the constitution says, I will abide by the letter of the constitution. That is not a personal political decision. I defer to constitutional rule.”
Later, in a separate interview with Barbados TODAY he said he was joining the DLP leadership to “heal this party” because “it seems as if there are some difficulties presenting to us”.
He added: “Internal difficulty is not new. All parties, particularly when they are in opposition, have internal difficulties. Those fractures can be hidden when a party is in government, because party leaders in government have access to great resources, and the fissures, the cleavages that appear in a party can be covered up, because people have the power to do things, people have access, not only to power, but to resources.
“When you are in opposition, those fissures become more obvious. I would like to think that I am a man of truth. I tell the truth even when it hurts…and the truth is, I think there is some healing that has to be done in the party.
“I spoke to one of the senior members of the party last night who is a church leader, and I have told him that the first order of business is for us to come to his church at a convenient time…if not this Sunday, the following Sunday and join, all of us together…all of the present leaders of this party, all of the executive members, all of the general council members, all of the presidents of the branches and begin a new journey with healing.
“You cannot come to a party, unless you come with that noble purpose, to heal the party and to take it forward to the people…because the party can’t have interest that is separate from the people’s. Our ultimate goal is to liberate the people of this country from an oppressive government, and we will do itunited.”
He continued: “If you join with the leadership, it means that you are also a leader, but there are several leaders in this party. There is the executive council, there is the general council…they are all leaders, and then there will be the political arm, if we are accepted, which is the parliamentary group. The parliamentary group will join with the existing leadership of this party in healing it and taking us forward.”
Referring to an earlier statement by the DLP that he could not speak for the party since he was not a member, Thorne said while some people did not think the position taken by the party was politically wise, he agreed the decision was legally and technically correct.
“I will await…and if and when I am given the permission to speak for the party, I will do so. But I must remain humble, and I must be patient, and I must be gracious,” he said.
Thorne first stood for Parliament on a Democratic Labour Party ticket in the 1994 general election that won the government for Owen Arthur and the Labour Party, losing to Ronald Toppin in the St Michael North riding with 32 per cent of the vote. His second outing in elective politics was in the 2003 poll — in which he was again drubbed by Toppin in St Michael North as he received only 20 per cent of the vote. Making an abrupt and unannounced switch, Thorne shifted to the BLP, campaigning for Arthur’s third term in 2003.
He entered the House of Assembly with the BLP’s 2018 victory under Mottley.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
