IRRESPECTIVE OF political affiliations, the people of this nation remain traumatised by the sad news, first publicly learnt on May 17, that Prime Minister David Thompson had fallen victim to a life-threatening ailment. Since then, prayers are being regularly offered in churches and homes for his recovery and the comfort of his dear family. And that’s how it should be in any civilised and politically mature society. Thompson has personally gone public with updates on the seriousness of his illness – without, understandably, divulging details. He has also been baring his own faith in God and anxiety for prayers, while his Democratic Labour Party decision-makers cope with the challenges of governance.In his latest broadcast statement on July 1 – hours before flying out to the United States for likely major surgery – Thompson announced that he would be on leave from official duties for two months and pleaded:“I eagerly look forward, with the help of the Almighty and your prayers, to returning to my post in the near future. In the meantime, please continue to pray for me, my family and our great nation . . . fate has brought me to this point in my life; and I know that God will never take us to a place from which His Almighty power and loving mercies cannot deliver us . . .”On Sunday that plea from Thompson will be reflected in a scheduled two-hour inter-denominational prayer service for the Prime Minister and his family at the Nazarene Church in Collymore Rock. Meanwhile, whether out of an abundance of caution or for some other reason, the manner and timing of official communication with the public on changes resulting from the Prime Minister’s illness continue to reveal surprises.For example, follow this scenario: Deputy Prime Minister, Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs Freundel Stuart, to whom Thompson had, prior to his departure, “devolved authority to make whatever decisions he deems necessary to keep the social and economic ship of state on even keel”, left for the CARICOM Summit in Montego Bay without an official announcement on Monday.On Tuesday, when this “information” came via the Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), the people of this country were also learning, from an announcement in Parliament by Leader of Government Business Chris Sinckler (also General Secretary of the ruling DLP), that the MP for St Philip South, Adriel Brathwaite, was now the country’s new Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs. Sinckler, who is also Minister of Social Care and, undoubtedly, of leadership quality, thought it necessary to emphasise, in the absence of acting Prime Minister Stuart, that Brathwaite’s appointment was “not an acting position” but a “substantive ministerial” post. No prior indication had been given, until then, that Brathwaite had already taken the oath as Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs. Surprise, surprise? By Wednesday, when the local media (including the Daily Nation) were reporting the appointment of a “new AG”, the BGIS, on page three of its bulletin, had listed an item headlined: Stuart And Other CARICOM Leaders Conclude Day 3 Of Talks. That “Stuart” happens to be this country’s acting Prime Minister.I think that as people of a Caribbean state sophisticated in the art of politics and governance, Barbadians may prefer a more enlightened approach in official public statements and initiatives pertaining to the functioning of the Barbados government – in the absence of seriously ill Prime Minister Thompson.
• Rickey Singh is a noted Caribbean journalist.
