The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is pushing “new politics” in Barbados and will soon be engaging the public on a variety of issues, says president Dr Ronnie Yearwood.
During a media briefing yesterday at the DLP’s George Street, Belleville, St Michael headquarters, he said they did not believe in “top-down” governance.
“Political parties are often seen as top-down institutions, where the policy comes from the leader and everybody is expected to follow along. That is not the process we are following. We are trying something very different, something very new in keeping with new politics and engagement, and trying to empower people, to make them feel a part of the decision-making process,” he said.
Yearwood revealed they were launching four working groups, each headed by a chairman, which would soon be hitting the road.
“We think these are issues which need to be addressed frontally and by engaging the people of Barbados. These chairpersons will be going out into [the public] and talking to you and sectoral organisations. So I’m putting PTAs [parent-teacher associations], medical associations, pharmacy associations, youth groups on guard – expect to hear from us and if they want to reach out to us as well, feel free,” he said.
The four groups and their chairpersons are as follows:
Finance, Economic Affairs and Governance Reform, chaired by Yearwood;
Education, Family and Social Inclusion, led by Melissa Savoury-Gittens;
Health, Social Care Services and Pharmaceutical Development, with Paul Gibson as chair; and
Youth, Culture, Sport and Juvenile Justice Reform chaired by Rasheed Belgrave.
Of the four, only Savoury-Gittens did not vie for a seat during the last General Election in January, which was swept again by the Barbados Labour Party. (CA)