OWEN?ARTHUR DOES IT AGAIN! He carried his band of political yesterdays to the Tell All CLICO Meeting. He played up the meeting as one that would rock Barbados when all he wanted to do was create a platform to publicly ask Mia Mottley if she would take the fall during the upcoming Estimates Debate.
When Mia requested a meeting, Arthur responded that he doesn’t do business in public. Now, he shouts to the world: “Mia! I have work for you!” while grinning and winking his eye.
Asking Mia publicly to do the Estimates response was the earth-shattering news of the night.
One thing’s for sure, the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is focused on regaining power at all costs.
The party journeyed to Haggatt Hall to engage in the usual gutter politics where the former Prime Minister of Barbados, The Honourable David Thompson, was the topic of discussion.
Dark Sunday, March 4, will be remembered as a smear in our political corridors as the BLP took platform politics to an all-time low.
The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) approached the CLICO matter with a firm commitment to keep staff employed and aid in securing the principal on investors’ funds. The friendship between the head of CLICO and the late Prime Minister was no secret.
This DLP, whose philosophy is keeping jobs and families intact, felt the company deserved help to avoid any contagion effect as we saw the collapse of CLICO in neighbouring territories.
The effort was not negotiated behind closed doors. A Press conference was held and plans outlined. A senior civil servant was asked to oversee the process and a former university lecturer and economist wereappointed to CLICO’s board. The state later went the route of appointing a judicial manager.
The case concerning CLICO and the state’s involvement was put squarely to the public.
What the state had little control over was the Opposition’s political colouring of the issue to the extent that the public began to question the show of confidence in the company.
The Opposition took to the streets not with a message of hope or a way forward, but one embellished with suspicion and innuendos. Longstanding BLP party officers attending the Dark Sunday meeting could be overheard expressing disappointment with focus of the meeting.
This period in our country’s history has demonstrated, after adult suffrage and the formation of political parties, that some politicians in this country have not matured. At a time when we hoped national interest would take centrestage, there was instead a systemic attempt to dismantle the livelihood of hundreds of Barbadians and wreck investment opportunities.
There must be another way for the Opposition to communicate to the public its concerns other than the current gutter politics of invectives and character assassinations.
One would think the country was on the brink of a financial meltdown and we were unable to pay the pensions of former Prime Ministers or former Cabinet ministers. After all, the country is experiencing reduced income.
However, what is clear is the Opposition’s political character as it demonstrates to the public day in and day out that it is bankrupt of ideas. Once again, unlike the politics of one-upmanship, this DLP stands firm in its call to place people at the centre, even as we face shouts of distraction.
Of course, the economy and the attack on jobs and the fiscal deficit will have to wait until the Opposition sucks this current CLICO political lemon dry. Voters, be warned!
• Douglas Leopold Phillips is a pseudonym for the Democratic Labour Party.
