BLP boycotts Parliament
THE 12 seats occupied by the Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) remained empty during yesterday’s sitting of the House of Assembly.
As promised, those Members of Parliament (MPs) followed through with their intention to stay away from the Lower House during the remainder of this parliamentary term. But that side of the Chamber was not completely empty as the United Progressive Party’s MP, the parliamentary representative for Christ Church West, Dr. Maria Agard, was present and contributed to the debate.
The BLP’s decision came last Friday when an attempt by the Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Mia Mottley, to lay the 2013-2018 report of the PAC was not allowed. Mottley, the MP for St. Michael North East, then led the parliamentary group in a walkout of the House and called a press conference, at which time she said that as far as they were concerned the Parliament of 2013-2018 had come to an end for the BLP. But the Opposition Leader said they were not abandoning Barbadians and would be making their case to the electorate to form the next government.
In fact, yesterday as the Government approved a $9.2 million supplementary for the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation and gave notice of several pieces of legislation including the Public Procurement Bill and the Building Standards Bill, Mottley took to the airwaves and criticised the introduction of the bills. She told the moderator on a popular call-in programme that the bills were being introduced at the last minute.
Prior to the last election in 2013, the BLP had also staged a boycott of Parliament. At that time the Opposition’s argument was that January 15, 2013 marked the five-year anniversary of the Democratic Labour Party’s victory at the polls, and as such, marked the end of the Administration’s term in office and they urged Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to call elections. It was not until two weeks later that a February 21, 2013 date was announced as the day Barbadians would go to the polls. The DLP was successful and retained the reins of power with a two-seat majority.
As Parliament was opened on March 6, 2013, it will reach five years next week and automatically dissolve. As such, there are perhaps just a few more sessions left in the life of the current Parliament. To date, Prime Minister Stuart has not set a date for the pending polls, and he has some time yet, as the general election is constitutionally due by June. (JRT)