It is often said that a day is a long time in politics and consistent with this statement, a weekend should be a political eternity. As such, the suggestion that last weekend fundamentally altered the political outlook for both the Government and Opposition is not likely to be greeted with much disagreement from any quarters.
Last week’s political developments were occasioned by either an unfortunate or fortunate coincidence that potentially explosive information has now come to light and this has perhaps helped former Prime Minister Owen Arthur to experience a public epiphany that is long overdue. The incidental aspect of this issue of course relates to the “publication” of the CLICO forensic investigation report which appears to suggest that some financial “hanky-panky” might have been going on in the final days of that organization’s operation as an independent entity.
The CLICO debacle was complemented last week by what was referred to above as an “epiphany” which is the only way that this sudden change in attitude of Arthur towards former Opposition Leader Mia Mottley could be described. Over the past year, it appeared as though Arthur and his advisors were not convinced that this chasm between himself and Mottley was the Achilles heel of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), and moreover, that Motley’s popularity was such that he needed her (now more than ever) to win the next general election.
One can speculate that the Arthur strategy heretofore relied heavily on Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to lose the next election, which I have always argued was as unwise as a Stuart strategy that assumed that the Arthur-Mottley clash would make the BLP unelectable.
Regardless of how one feels about Arthur and his politics, it is difficult not to admire the extent to which he has demonstrated a mastery of the political tools at his disposal to maintain his popularity and by extension himself in office. Hitherto, however, he appears not to have demonstrated a similar mastery of the type of politics he would need to practise to return himself to the first cane chair to the left of the Speaker.
One presumes that this attitude on his part had nothing to do with his political naivety, but was exclusively related to his political arrogance. It would therefore have been unfortunate for the BLP if this limitation on the part of Arthur prevented them from wining the next election.
Against this background, the invitation extended to Mottley to take the lead in the forthcoming economic debates can only be described as the type of political “master stroke” that signals the return of the old Arthur, which can only augur well for the BLP and spell impending gloom for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), whose leadership is less well known for his political “stroke play”.
One is not certain whether Arthur’s decision was born of his own benevolence or out of perceived need, but the impact will most certainly be a win-win for the BLP for several reasons. Significantly among these is the signal that it sends to the public regarding Arthur’s attitude towards Mottley and the fact that this appears to be an olive branch which she would be ill-advised to decline.
Certainly there has been some amount of uncertainty regarding Arthur’s preferred role for Mottley in the BLP’s future arrangements and this effectively answers those questions. The fact that Arthur was willing to surrender this central and pivotal political activity to Mottley appears to speak volumes about his magnanimity and his confidence in the former Opposition Leader who previously appeared to be a threat to him.
This is the last Budgetary exercise before the next general election and one presumes that we will vote based on the alternatives presented by Mottley, which means that she will ultimately influence the economic direction of the BLP’s next administration (if they win).
If successful, Arthur could easily build on the fact that Mottley’s last assignment was that of Minister of Economic Development and offer her the entire economic kingdom, which is a political morsel so tasty that it might yet satisfy her political appetite until he eventually decides to retire from politics.
This strategy also presents a less obvious bonus benefit which is related to the fact that for some time now, there appears to have been considerable harmony between Mottley and Minster of Finance Chris Sinckler, which ought to be discouraged in an adversarial political system. This strategy forces Mottley now to “square off” against Sinckler in a public manner, or alternatively present herself in the public domain as being “soft” on her adversaries.
Sinckler, on the other hand, will be forced to focus his often venomous tongue on Mottley and not Arthur, which can be challenging since Mottley was not previously responsible for the Barbados economy.
As an undercurrent to all this, there will be some trust issues that Mottley can ill-afford to ignore.
One presumes that as she prepares for this major assignment, she will be reflecting on the treatment meted out to her over the past year and asking herself if she is being used as a footstool.
Such reflections are inevitable. However, I am minded to note that in politics virtually everyone is someone else’s footstool and what is perhaps more important is that you ensure that as you are used to advance the agenda of another, you secure something for yourself and your constituency in the bargain.
