We accept yesterday’s public apology by Prime Minister David Thompson. We acknowledge that he regrets not having got back sooner to the people of Barbados on the state of his health, as he had promised last May.
After all, it was he who had announced nationally that he was ill, and that he faced challenges ahead, including possibly major surgery.
But he did promise he would get back to us; and he did not.
As it turned out, the public attached more importance to his recovery than to his health updates, as attested to by the several prayer sessions – national and otherwise.
Still, among citizens at home and nationals abroad, the actual state of health of our dear Prime Minister remained unclear. The Prime Minister’s health is not only the Government’s concern, but legitimately also the country’s.
Mr Thompson has now authorised his physician Dr Richard Ishmael to give us by next week a formal medical update on the state of his health.
As we await Dr Ishmael’s report, there are worthy observations to be made and lessons to be learnt from the Thompson experience.
There needs to be some protocol that keeps us aware of the health of the Prime Minister. All Prime Ministers carry ultimate responsibility, and for that reason they claim our trust; in turn, they must place some confidence in us.
We applaud Mr Thompson’s statement yesterday on national radio, and look forward to even more transparency in the sharing of information that properly belongs to the public.
