DLP alive says Lashley, Estwick 

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) despite its massive defeat at the polls last year, has done a lot for Barbados and still has a lot to offer the people of Barbados.

That’s the view of former Minister of Transport and Works, attorney-at-law Michael Lashley. The former St. Philip North Member of Parliament was speaking on Sunday night during a joint meeting of the St. Philip branches of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), held at the Princess Margaret Secondary School.

“This is a great Party and we need to rally the base, and I want you not only to stand in George Street, but we have to get in the communities, we have to get into the organisations, we have to get on social media and we have to go in the trenches and get out there and fight for the cause of the Democratic Labour Party, because families are hurting, people are hurting,” Lashley lamented.

The three-term parliamentarian told the gathering that the DLP was responsible in its last two terms in office for passing “tremendous social legislation” including the Employment Rights Act, Health and Safety at Work Act and legislation addressing the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. Additionally, he said the Party also addressed the deficits in the law in relation to domestic violence. He said also that the DLP made tremendous strides in the areas of housing, providing much needed housing solutions for Barbadians, by way of standalone houses, high rise housing units and land lots.

“We were defeated 30-love, but we still have support in this country, that is the reality. So there is this view that 30-love means that we are dead and that we don’t have any place in the political process or the governance of this country forever, and that is why it your duty… to go out there and fight for the Democratic Labour Party,” he maintained.

Lashley made the comments while stating that even if the former MPs do not run as candidates in the next elections, they can and are willing to give of their expertise and share their experiences with the wider Party.

“There can be a meeting of the minds to develop what strategy or what approach the Democratic Labour Party will take moving forward to the next election,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dr. David Estwick, Former Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management said that over the next few meetings that will be held, the Party will continue to defend its record. His comments came as he made it clear that the Party has a set of well-established organs and structures that will be used to determine the way forward, as well as those who will stand as candidates in the next general elections.

“The choice of any one of us to stand as a candidate is our decision. Whether the Party chooses A or B is also the Party’s decision. So I do not bring any fear on those issues. What I would say is, just as Michael [Lashley] would have said, I would stand to throw my full support wherever it is necessary,” he stated.

Touching then on the May 2018 result, he said the Barbados Labour Party’s clean sweep at the polls was “nothing new in politics”. He said while there had never been such a poll result recorded in Barbados, several other countries in the Caribbean have had similar experiences.

“This has happened more than once in Grenada, it has happened more than once in Jamaica, it has happened also in Trinidad… So we don’t have to be afraid and beat ourselves on the head as though we have created some new history, some new writing on the wall, that is not what we are about,” he contended. (JRT)