There will be no discussions between the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) about anything, says DLP political leader Ralph Thorne, unless it is to discuss how the Opposition party will take over Government.
Thorne, speaking at DLP headquarters, George Street, St Michael last night during a meeting to “set the tone for the party”, labelled attempts by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley to engage with them in formal talks about crime as “false” and “insincere”, adding the offer was rejected by the General Council and the Executive Council.
‘Crime report soon’
“The state has at its disposal the Barbados Police Service, the National Security Council and they’ve set up an [National] Advisory Council on [Citizen Security]. We think that the invitation to us is merely symbolic, that it doesn’t solve any problem. We have our own commission on crime and our report will be coming out soon.
“We’re not here to engage in public relations exercises. I think it is a public relations exercise and we’re not interested in that. We’re a serious party,” he said, adding the recent resignation of the advisory council’s chairman, Professor Velma Newton, was damning.
The DLP political leader accused the administration of mismanaging its resources by not allowing the state’s human and physical resources to function towards the resolution of crime. He said while crime could never be completely resolved, Government had been reluctant to properly deal with it.
“The Government has been delinquent, it has been derelict in its duty and it would be an exercise in futility to meet with the Government, to discuss what, to tell the Government what it knows that it has to do? To tell the Government that it knows that it has to pass proper legislation? To tell the Government that it knows that it has to pursue socio-economic policies that benefit the people of this country?
“If we meet with them, we’re going to tell them that and I don’t intend to practise that discourtesy,” he said, adding those who were engaged in crime were falling through the cracks and were not being looked after by the social welfare systems.
As for the issue of the subventions for political parties, Thorne said it was all tied together and the DLP was not going to take the bait.
Subvention
“The Prime Minister has tied the issue of subventions to a meeting on crime. That is unethical. That is not something that should be done. It’s a game and we’re not playing games. We have a right to the subvention and our right to the subvention is not based on any arbitrary action by the Prime Minister. We will not allow the issue of a subvention to be used as a carrot that is tied to an agreement to meet with the Prime Minister.
“We defy the Prime Minister to draw us into a position in which the subvention or entitlement to the subvention becomes tied to a meeting that she wants with us. We have a right to the subvention and we know we have that right. The subvention is not the Prime Minister’s call; it is something that is written within the traditions of Parliament. The Prime Minister is not a monarch; the Prime Minister has no power to dispense the subvention but that is her autocratic style,” he said.
The Opposition leader said the BLP knew its time was nearing an end and the only possible discussions between the parties would be to hand over the reins of power. He said the “City of Barbados” was under siege and it was up to the DLP to “stand in the gap” against the invaders, both criminal and political.
“We are trying to replace the Barbados Labour Party in Government. Are we going to meet to tell them that? They know that and that is why I am subject to personal attacks every week on the floor of the Parliament. They know that we are coming after them. What do they want me to meet with them and tell them? That we know that we have an equal right to replace them in Government?
“We are in a good place and when we go to the polls, this pantheon of youth and experience will far outweigh the mediocrity of the BLP. We are not here trying to be a strong Opposition; we intend to be a strong Government. Barbados needs the DLP now, let us all stand in the gap,” he said. (CA)
