IT SEEMS TO ME that Mia Mottley’s demise in the race for chairmanship of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was predetermined. So too, was her removal as Leader of the Opposition.
What I’m suggesting may sound far-fetched, but when the dots between different statements are linked from 2007 to present, the evidence suggests that Mia was outwitted, outmanoeuvered and eventually, outdone.
As such, she had no other option but to jump out of the chairmanship race Monday to avoid an embarrassing defeat at the party’s annual conference next month.
Always the fighter, Mia tried to snatch some pride from this humiliating rejection in a similarly defiant manner as she did after being ousted as party leader.
This time, she circulated a letter in which she slammed the changes to the rules of the party’s upcoming annual conference by describing the amendments surrounding how delegates should be counted as “undemocratic and unconstitutional”.
Then she declared: “The most powerful way I can register my strongest opposition to this undemocratic and unconstitutional cutting of members’ rights and tinkering with our (party’s) constitution is to withdraw from the contest for the post of chairman.”
Truth be told, Mia was the likely loser in that race as her opponent, Dr Jerome Walcott, has been nominated by 19 of the 30 constituency branches, along with the Women’s League and League of Young Socialists. Even though the delegates vote via secret ballot and could switch support at that last stage, it was highly improbable that they would vote against the candidate their branch chose.
As I said, though, Mia’s non-election as chairman was destined because the power brokers in the BLP had long decided that she was not the right person to lead the party. Follow the dots and you too, will see.
We all saw how a humbled Arthur handed the leadership to Mia after the BLP’s whipping in the 2008 general elections. Thereafter, very little was heard or seen of him.
Then, about 18 months afterwards, there were loud rumours that the former Prime Minister was planning a comeback. Arthur started speaking with regularity at constituency branch meetings and began attacking the Government’s policies with increasing vociferousness, often separate from what Mia was doing. This fuelled speculation that a leadership challenge was in the offing.
Then came Arthur’s now infamous Press conference at his University of the West Indies office on Tuesday, October 27, 2009, when he declared: “I would like to see Ms Mottley succeed in politics . . . I made Ms Mottley my Deputy Prime Minister . . . I also stepped down voluntarily as leader of the party.
“. . . The challenge facing Ms Mottley and the party is not within the parliamentary group. The challenge is to have a leader who enjoys wide acceptance and acceptability in the wider society, and wide acceptance in the parliamentary party.”
Though Mia did not respond in any detailed manner to Arthur’s innuendo-laden charges, she did say that it was a given that any person in public life had to adjust to how they were perceived, but she questioned if the same would be said, or rumoured about her, were she a man.
Within a year of Arthur’s broadside, Mia was dumped by the parliamentary group.
Mia then announced that she would be running for the chairmanship of the party at the upcoming October 29 to 30 annual conference. Clearly, this move was intended to ensure that she would remain part of the decision making process in the party.
The final dot which brought it all together and showed that these separate incidents were part of a master plan was revealed a few weeks ago compliments of WikiLeaks.
In a confidential cable to the State Department dated June 5, 2007, American Ambassador Mary Ourisman stated: “Former Senator Philip Goddard, an excellent contact of the Embassy, recently confirmed to the DCM (Deputy Chief of Mission Brent Hardt) in a private conversation that internal BLP leadership is absolutely determined that Mottley would not lead the party, should they be returned to power in the next elections. According to Goddard, senior BLP officials believe that Mottley’s personal life makes her an unacceptable choice to lead the party and the nation.”
Will she rise to lead the BLP again? She will when she convinces the power brokers that she can fit into the image they seek – I suspect Chris Sinckler has a similar challenge with the DLP elders!
