The people have spoken and it is the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) which will continue to form this country’s Government for at least the next five years.
Congratulations to all who won their seats in both parties and to the Freundel Stuart administration for retaining the Government.
What I have to say below in no way attempts to undermine the Dems’ victory. In the first-past-the-post system, the winner takes it all. But the losers should not renege on their core principles, ever, and especially in a contest as close as this one. But now is the time for compromise.
Those who supported the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) in this election – like this writer – remain deeply concerned over the economic direction in which the country has been headed over the past few years. Those concerns have increased by the thought of “more of the same” coming over the next five years.
Having voted for the DLP on the previous two occasions, I felt that its policies were too risk-averse to pull us up by our proverbial bootstraps and out of the financial morass into which we have sunk, and that removing people’s discretionary income through taxing of personal allowances and indirect tax increases, notably on value added tax (VAT), in order to reduce pressure on imports, has inflicted too much financial distress on the citizens.
These opinions, shared by many, became part of the BLP campaign platform and were brilliantly articulated by the party’s main speakers on the economy, notably Opposition Leader Owen Arthur, Mia Mottley and Dale Marshall.
However, they were not enough to win a majority of seats in the House of Assembly.
The pieces will be picked up and the BLP will move on, but despite the fact that it did not win the Government as was consistently predicted in the CADRES polls, it came very close, and its seat increase brings some new faces to the House.
The close election result may also have shown that perhaps from now on, no party in power can take for granted that it will almost certainly win a second term in office.
As the Bees continue to fight in Parliament for more emphasis on initiatives to jump-start the economy and increase foreign exchange earning, it is hoped that the Dems will be less dismissive of the Opposition’s case. Our country remains in a deepening economic crisis, with growth of less than one per cent in gross domestic profit projected and no ease in the rise in consumer prices caused by purposely excessive taxation.
However, while it took the Dems a while to get to macro-economic policies in their manifesto, I read with hope (Page 24) that the new DLP administration will “aggressively pursue new foreign exchange earnings growth strategies as the most sustainable means of reducing the fiscal deficit and national debt”.
I look forward to hearing about these in the upcoming Estimates debate or, certainly, in the Budget speech.
I also read with keen interest that the new administration will “reduce the levels of transfers and subsidies in line with the targets of the Medium Term Fiscal Strategy”. Privatization without calling its name? We shall see. It will also “undertake an extensive programme of tax reform including VAT, Customs duties and trade taxes”.
Without quoting them, I also like the commitments regarding keeping wage increases in line with productivity improvements, performance-based pay, renewable energy installations in Government departments and statutory corporations (which would create local stimulus first, then save foreign exchange later), and all of the plans to make Government operations more efficient.
As the new Government gets on with the urgent business of laying, debating and approving the Estimates, I expect the BLP Opposition to give no quarter in its analysis of the revenue and expenditure envisioned over the next year, and to criticize where necessary.
But I would also expect it to give its support, even if it believes it would have done something differently, where the general result will be positive.
The one thing we cannot afford right now on top of all the problems we are facing is obstruction and division in Parliament. The Bees may be in a better position to do this now as the Dems’ seat advantage is so small, but in my opinion, this is a time for critical support in our politics. We need to get out of this mess. The people have retained the Dems as the designated driver as we try to get the truck out of the ditch, and the Bees need to do their utmost to help, not hinder.
By critical support, I mean to argue and debate and criticize in an effort to get better versions of the policies on offer, but in the end, support them for the sake of the national good despite retaining any misgivings you might honestly have.
The country, by its vote last week, shows it respects the BLP for its views and its commitment to improving the well-being and happiness of all of its citizens. Let the Bees, through their critical support of the Dems’ policies, return the compliment to the nation.
That, in my layman’s understanding, was the message which the electorate sent last week.
• Pat Hoyos is a publisher and business writer.
