When Parliament resumes this week – and any other date under the current Democratic Labour Party (DLP) term – all nine Barbados Labour Party (BLP) seats will be empty.
That’s because the Opposition will stay away from the House of Assembly in protest of Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s delay in calling the general election as the five-year mandate given at the January 15, 2008 poll expires.
The boycott begins on Tuesday, the five-year anniversary of the DLP’s victory, deputy Leader of the Opposition Dale Marshall announced yesterday as he condemned the “blatant refusal to call the general election”.
“Deeply committed about safeguarding the democratic tradition that had obtained and worked so well in the past, the Barbados Labour Party parliamentarians have therefore taken the highly principled decision not to attend Parliament on Tuesday, January 15, 2013, the fifth anniversary or year of the date of the last general election, or beyond that date,” he said.
Under Section 61(3) of the Barbados Constitution, Parliament can only continue for five years from the date of its first sitting following an election. The first sitting of Parliament after the last vote was February 12, 2008. (DP)
