Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne says he will be requesting the annual political subvention for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) once again from Parliament, with a by-election less than two weeks away.
However, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley is advising him and the Dems that they must “play by the rules”.
Speaking on Thursday night on DLP-TV, acting party president Senator Andre Worrell charged that the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was keeping the entire $300 000 subvention for itself.
He told Thorne: “Just so that Barbadians know how . . . you have been sitting in Parliament since last year as an MP (Member of Parliament) for the Democratic Labour Party and up to this day, they have not said that the Democratic Labour Party deserves the subvention from the Government. And the Barbados Labour Party, since they came to office, have been taking all $300 000 in subvention, which would equate to roughly $2.1 million,” he said, while pointing out that the DLP was entitled to $150 000.
“You have been in Parliament since February last year sitting as a Democratic Labour Party MP and they have not taken the time or said, ‘Well, look, the Democratic Labour Party deserves a subvention as well’ because just like any other political party, we have expenses. We have a campaign to run,” Worrell added, as he thanked Barbadians who he said have been coming forward and donating to their campaign in the St James North by-election.
“We still need the funds. But you know what? We’ve settled a campaign of morality versus money and it is clear that morality does not exist in the Barbados Labour Party.”
When contacted yesterday for a response, Mottley told the Saturday Sun that she was not the one who made the present rules.
“The Democratic Labour Party knows that at this point in time that the
rules were set not by me, but by the joint decision of the Barbados Labour Party and the Democratic Labour Party under [an] Owen Arthur [administration] almost 30 years ago [on] how you access the subvention. Now we have a Parliamentary Reform Commission report and that report has to be determined and decided upon with a range of recommendations.
“I will be more than happy when we bring the report to Parliament to discuss the provision of a subvention for all persons going forward, but you can’t abide by the rules when it suits you and ignore the rules when it suits you too,” she added.
St James North candidate Felicia Dujon called the BLP’s actions “unethical”.
“They’re not taking it from not only the party, but from the people of Barbados because this is what the people need so that we can work on their behalf. So it’s very unethical what they’ve done. And they want to give people the impression that they support democracy. We really want democracy in this country,” she said.
Thorne then announced that he was “going to go after the money now”.
“That money was intended to boost multi-party democracy in this Parliament. I mean, that’s the basic idea . . . . But . . . let them refuse us and however they refuse us, we’re going to go to the public and tell the public what they’re doing. And if there was any fairness, it’s not something that you should have to beg for. It is something voted by the people. It’s a guarantee. But, Andre, if you tell me that $300 000 is put there in respect of two parties, they should not be taking the money. Even if I had not crossed, I still think they should have had only $150 000,” Thorne said. ( MB)
