With a thread of “30 but nothing” running through his address, president of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Dr Ronnie Yearwood came out firing on Sunday night during the St Philip South branch meeting at Clara’s Hideaway in Four Roads.
And he reminded listeners, both present and on streaming platforms, that the Barbados Labour Party has been in office for five years and the DLP was not responsible for its problems.
Since the DLP has zero seats in Parliament, all of the failings are at the feet of the BLP.
“So all of a sudden every single problem in Barbados is a Democratic Labour Party problem? So you can’t get the IDs fixed, but the DLP caused it. The Governor ain’t get appointed properly but somehow the DLP caused it? You can’t get the roads fixed, but the DLP caused it. The statistics on employment, the DLP caused it. You ain’t get a republic Constitution, the DLP …
“How can the DLP cause it? We have no seats in Parliament. We cannot even filibuster a Bill. We cannot get up there and stop you from doing anything. You have the ability to transform and change this country, but every single day, do you know what? You fail.”
Turning his attention to the stewardship of Prime Minister Mia Mottley, he described her as being “hypersensitive” to criticism.
“What are we supposed to do? Clap for foolishness? If it wrong, it wrong. If it ain’t working, it ain’t working. How hard is that to understand? That is how democracy works,” he said.
Yearwood said what was disturbing is that Barbadians were today having discussions about the right to march. He felt the country had gone back in time because those were conversations from the 1930s, 40s and 50s. A leader, he said, should create the space for expression, even if they did not share the same views.
“Understand that the people out there marching, they are not stupid, they are not mad. They have legitimate fears. You listen, you talk to them, you understand . . .”
He also said all the praise being lavished on Mottley by international organisations amounted to nothing. And instead of being distracted as she has said, Barbadians were disappointed.
“You are just a letdown. You are just a letdown to yourself, you are a] letdown to your party, and you are a letdown for your country. I don’t care how many global awards and pundits praising you up. CNN does not live in Barbados,” he said to applause.
“The World Economic Forum does not have to drive the roads in Barbados. They do not shop in the supermarkets [in] Barbados. They don’t got to buy the $40 chicken and whatever else prices and pay the gas prices and struggle to send school their children. They are not the ones facing layoffs. So they could afford to give you awards. They can afford to clap you while you sipping your champagne and eating your canapés wherever you are, while the people in this country are suffering, because they do not live here.”
Yearwood said he was concerned about the direction in which Barbados was going. He also addressed the country’s tourism performance, the Child Protection Bill, renewable energy, the Trident ID Cards and education reform. (SAT)