FORMER?PARLIAMENTARIAN?ROMMELL?MARSHALL says he is prepared to answer the call of the people of St Joseph but he is unlikely to get the backing of Opposition Leader Owen Arthur to contest the seat on a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) ticket.
Speaking at a BLP meeting at the St George Secondary School on Sunday night, Arthur blasted Marshall over reports that he was planning to contest the eastern riding as an Independent candidate whenever general elections are called. Marshall is still a member of the BLP and the constituency is presently represented by Arthur’s deputy Dale Marshall.
“Mr Rommell Marshall, I will speak clearly. The notion of you going to contest a nomination as an Independent in St Joseph will have to be regarded as an act hostile to the interest of the Labour Party and the [BLP’s] National Council will have to take action against it,” warned Arthur, amid signs of a From Page 1. widening internal rift within the BLP.
The St Peter MP, who as Prime Minister once fired Marshall from his Cabinet, said if the former St Michael West Central representative could be publicly stating his intentions in St Joseph, it meant he was only trying to bring the BLP into disrepute.
“Even if you had that in your heart, you wouldn’t go to the newspapers foolishly and say that. It (has) got to stop, it really has to stop. And you, the rank and file of the Labour Party, got to tell people that you cannot mean us well if you got us always in this foolishness,” Arthur said.
His comments came on the heels of last weekend’s publication by the SUNDAY?SUN?of an internal report that brought into question former Opposition Leader Mia Mottley’s management of almost half-million dollars vested in a special election account held by the opposition party.
Arthur admitted then that he was struggling to bring healing to the party following last October’s controversial removal of Mottley from the helm.
Later, as he addressed a joint St George North/South branch meeting, Arthur told party supporters that he was also troubled by reports of a pending challenge to BLP?incumbent Ronald Toppin in St Michael North.
“It is foolishness . . . . What are we coming to and for what?” Arthur queried.
But yesterday, Marshall, who has openly expressed his support for Mottley, responded with a direct challenge to Arthur. He told the DAILY NATION that he “would not sing from the same hymn sheet as Owen Arthur” but stood ready to face him whenever Arthur was ready.
He also said he did not fear censure from the BLP’s executive body.
“I am free to contest a seat anywhere. If they believe my action is not in keeping with their policies, then they are free to do whatever they want to do.”
As for the St Joseph nomination, Marshall explained that he was responding to a call of the people in St Joseph, who, according to him, had been critical of the stewardship of his namesake and had asked him to contest the seat.
“St Joseph has been badly neglected and I am doing some work in St Joseph.”
He also reiterated his opposition to Arthur’s re-emergence at the helm of the Opposition, saying “he (Arthur) was not decent enough to sit down with Mia Mottley and discuss any concerns he had.
“A lot of people, including myself, are not happy with what is going on in the Barbados Labour Party,” said Marshall, adding that Arthur had now fallen from “statesman to groundsman”.
