BLF Speaks: Beyond the Cathartic of Thorne’s Intervention

Guest Editorial

There can be no doubt that Mr. Thorne, newly appointed Barbados opposition leader, did an excellent job of replying to the 2024 Estimates Debate. In fact, we might describe his speech as the chastisement of the Mia Mottley government in terms we have not seen since 2018 when the BLP took all 30 seats and again in a snap election in January 2022.

But we must also compliment the Marcia Weekes Show and its team of guests including the formidable Caswell Franklin who regularly educates Barbadians on the workings of their system of government, employee relations and a range of other topics about which Barbadians are regrettably, under-informed or ill-informed.

Therapeutic

The defection of Mr. Thorne from the ruling BLP, his subsequent return to the fold of the Democratic Labour Party  and his impressive performance as Leader  of the opposition so far is a breath of fresh air.

Many Barbadians have no doubt breathed a sigh of relief to know that finally someone actually cares and was truly committed to their representation at the highest level.

But Mr. Throne’s intervention is more than that; it is the first dose of a cathartic treatment which has been long overdue in the body politic of Barbados. Cathartic means “purifying”, “liberating”, “purgative” even “excretory”.  It also means “therapeutic” or “healing”.   

Thorne’s intervention is all of these things and perhaps more; perhaps it has restored the faith of some in that breed of animal called politicians which some might see as necessary evils in our system of democracy.

Servant Leadership

Barbadians and the recent crop of politicians have been in an abusive relationship ever since the passing of people like Mr. Errol Walton Barrow.  We now have a strain of viruses – apologies, “representatives” – that see themselves as our bosses rather than our servants and who are intent on “sucking the nipples of the economy” as one of their kind has bluntly stated. 

That is why the Barbados Liberation Front has explicitly adopted the moral and the philosophical principle of Servant Leadership which is a logical outcome of our commitment to a Judeo-Christian worldview. 

As we said in a previous release here, Barbadians need to have the power to recall representatives when they begin to get uppity and act as lords rather than servants.

Barbadians Complicit

But the tendency for politicians to pose as overlords is facilitated by the fact that most Barbadians are not only docile but easily appeased.  Like the stereotypical abused woman, we go back to the abusing partner because we choose not to see any other options or because the partner offers some inducement.

Put another way, we have allowed ourselves to be victims of the political ring game, “Dah Fuh You Dis Fuh Me” where if “dah” is $100, “dis” is $1000 and where we go happily along with “dah” until the inevitable crunch comes when we engage in yet another round of complaining and ring games.

Setting the Bar

Our summary assessment is that even though Mr. Thorne did an excellent job in his speech, he was too often apologetic although it is clear that some of it was calculated disarming bantering.   

But we beg to differ with Mr. Thorne about the matter of calling out names of citizens in parliament. The Honourable Mr. Thorne considers that a “decent” thing but in a democracy where there are already problems with corruption, hiding behind this cloak of parliamentary decency is problematic.

We understand all too well the rationale and thinking for his affability; Barbados is a small country and we have to get along with each other; especially among the legal fraternity!

But we at the Barbados Liberation Front consider that to be dropping the bar too low.  We are never going to reduce corruption in this country, let alone eliminate it, if we compromise with the cancer of corruption.

Nobody in his or her right mind tries to terminate a cancer by removing some of the cancer cells. We all know why that makes no sense.      

Our position is that when an individual is the recipient of taxpayer’s monies and, especially if that individual has obtained those funds by corruption, the taxpayers have a right to know who these individuals are – unless it is a matter of national security- but of course, with due respect for the potential for defamation of character.

So, we have to take issue with Mr. Thorne for not raising even the possibility that the outrageous sum of 54 million dollars paid to White Oak for a restructuring of Barbados’ debt entailed some form of money laundering.  He surely could have found some charming and chummy way of expressing that.

This is particularly important since Mr. Thorne intimated that the late PM Owen Arthur had offered to do the restructuring for free!  How else do we explain that voluntary, over-the-top, outrageous payment to a foreign entity?  This is a matter that definitely needs further investigation.

It is also time we get a freedom of information act (FOIA) like the one in place in Jamaica. A BLF administration will make that one of its top priorities.  The FT (Financial Times) article to which Mr. Thorne referred in his speech can be found here.

Mr. Thorne very well knows that parliamentary speech is highly protected speech, so we stress again that given the multiple millions of dollars this government has wasted or subtly laundered, we need to know – where appropriate- who is profiting from corrupt government practices.  In our view, that would be the first round in achieving accountability which is fast becoming a cliché and political football rather than a principle with practical consequences. 

In summary then, while we have gained some level of catharsis or relief with the advent of the Honourable Mr. Ralph Thorne as Opposition Leader, that regrettably is a short-term solution and provides only temporary gratification. 

System Reboot

Beyond the cathartic of Throne’s intervention then, lies the underlying, fundamental and knotty problems of our polity and economy. 

In about two years there will be a general election and we will have to decide which party will govern this country. That is the harsh reality. Will we then be back to square one with the two so-called established parties?

Despite what has been said about the technicalities of our constitution and its structural (though superficial) exclusion of parties from the calculus of deciding who is government and who is opposition after an election, we all know that independent candidates, even though well-meaning, can have no real clout in our present system of government.  Barbadians understand this very well; therefore, they have treated independent candidates accordingly throughout the years.

Our political system needs a radical transformation and reboot; it must no longer allow a 30-0 election result (as is evidently possible again) under the current first-past-the-post two-party electoral system.

A Barbados Liberation Front government will introduce a proportional representation system (PRS) although we are quite aware that that will have its challenges for implementation. We agree that no system, political or otherwise, is perfect. However, that should not stop us from boldly experimenting with different ideas rather than clinging to demonstrably failed concepts.

The economy of debt needs to be replaced by an economy of thrift, just economic rewards and value-added. Starting at the top and on the spending side, a Barbados Liberation Front government will first of all eliminate unconstitutional ministerial positions (such as Minister of State) and reduce the salaries of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and MPs by a meaningful quantum.  The timing of the payment of MPs pensions will be tied to that of the general civil service.  Those at the top must set an example.

The economy will be enhanced through an outward-inward looking, global market needs approach with commensurate investments in training to support that strategy. 

Conclusion

Regrettably, Mr. Thorne’s timely intervention as Opposition Leader cannot solve the underlying problems in our polity and economy even though he has spoken so eloquently and passionately about several of them and we sense that he really cares. We thank him for his contribution and do wish him well.

However, his current role is akin to that of an auditor. He is carrying out a necessary and urgent situation or forensic analysis of the morality and practices of our system of governance. It will take the effort of a party whose members are sworn to upholding a Judeo-Christian value set and philosophy to win the next election and boldly set about liberating Barbados from the clutches of our version of the Deep State.