Reid ‘not backing down’ in call for removal of DLP president, general secretary

Armed with backing from Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne, Democratic Labour Party (DLP) stalwart Hartley Reid vowed on Monday to keep up the pressure to have DLP President Dr Ronnie Yearwood and General Secretary Steve Blackett removed from office.

Reid, who delivered a no-confidence resolution to the party headquarters last Wednesday, said he is not backing down from his pursuit which received public support from Thorne, the Dems’ newly appointed political leader, over the weekend.

“When I submitted it, it wasn’t for a ‘[pappy] show’ or just for doing it. It is a serious resolution, so I can’t give up on it,” Reid told Barbados TODAY.

“Anyone who recognises the rule of law and the observance of constitutions and the things that rule resolutions and regulations that rule anything, they can see no issue in it,” he said, referring to Thorne’s endorsement of his right to bring the no-confidence motion against the party leadership.

As Blackett continued on Monday to maintain silence beyond initial comments he made last week, Reid insisted on an organisation’s mechanism to adjudicate the grievances of members, who by right must be heard.

The DLP stalwart said he was still awaiting official word from the general secretary as to how the executive council will deal with the no-confidence motion.

But he acknowledged that he would not describe the wait so far as a delay, given the nature of the resolution and the time that has elapsed since he submitted the document on Wednesday.

“I can’t call it a delay,” Reid said. “It can’t be any delay in this issue. I wouldn’t call it a delay because it is not anything that is life and death.”  

After reviewing his resolution at last week’s meeting, he maintained that his knowledge about what the executive council found was from the news and social media.

Blackett had told reporters following the council meeting last Thursday night that it found discrepancies with the signatures attached to the motion. Some of the signatories to the resolution were not members of the party, he said, adding that some party members said their names were added to the document without their knowledge.

“I have no idea what the general secretary is speaking about when he talked about flaws,” said the longstanding party member. “Persons who have seen the resolution are pretty comfortable with it. So, I do not know what the flaw or flaws are.” 

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb