Weekly Column

The public swearing in of the Cabinet of Barbados at Kensington Oval was a time for much celebration among the Democratic Labour Party faithful and rightly so. It also showcased the Prime Minister at his gracious best. He called for national healing and unity and promised that there would be no victimization by the new Government.

Alas his words ring hollow in the face of a series of inhumane dismissals of his fellow Barbadians, whose major crime is the fact that they support a political party other than his own. While we are not entirely surprised by this volte face, having watched the Prime Minister in close quarters during his tenure on the Opposition benches, we are nevertheless disappointed at the manner in which the present Government is engaged in what can only be described as political bloodletting.

In his zeal to correct what may be viewed as political imbalances, the Prime Minister has adopted a most unfortunate stance of dismissal by Press statement. He did it at the Urban Development Commission and he did it in the Prime Minister’s Office. And it is not that the Prime Minister is not entitled to hire and fire as he sees fit, but surely our level of political maturity forty-two years after Independence should dictate a more dignified approach to the rotation of political and statutory appointments. Is this the change that Barbadians envisaged when they made their way to the polls on January 15th? The politics of victimization and spite?

The Barbados Labour Party Government did not preclude the son of a former DLP Cabinet Minister or indeed the daughter of our first Prime Minister from appointment to two statutory bodies. If it makes the Prime Minister a bigger man in the eyes of his party faithful by the Government sending home Carol Roberts from the NCF or by putting Peter Scott from the RDC on indefinite vacation leave we are in a sorry state as a people.

This type of politics further diminishes the process of nation building in our view. There is already the belief among political observers that young professionals and other gifted young people among us are shying away from political service for fear of character assassination and victimization by some elements in the political arena. This type of behaviour does nothing to assuage those fears. It is not a practice that will be condoned or perpetuated by this new Barbados Labour Party.

At the end of the day we are all Barbadians, some with small children to support, others with mortgages to pay and the type of cruel and unnecessary embarrassment wrought on our brothers and sisters within recent weeks is demeaning to us all. By all means implement new policies, bring your own character to the affairs of state and employ those with whom you feel comfortable, but live up as well to the example trumpeted in your Manifesto “to put aside personal differences and consider what is good for Barbados”.

When the wave of political bloodletting is past and the dog and pony show is over the peoples’ expectations will still be there. So too will be the high cost of living, soaring energy prices and the threat of an international economic meltdown.

To whom much is given much is expected. The campaign is over and the ministerial excursions around the countryside are drawing to a close. The smokescreen is wafting away on the breeze. It is time to get down to the people’s business. Change cannot mean business as usual, particularly when it echoes the worst of our political experience from the last century.