Keeping watch
Former Prime Minister of Barbados and Minister of Finance, Owen Arthur, says he is keeping a watchful eye on the election campaigns in the lead-up to the May 24 poll.
Speaking to The Barbados Advocate recently, Arthur, who has retired from active politics after spending close to half a century as the Member of Parliament for St. Peter, said while he is not contesting any seat this time around, his interest in the well-being of this country has not waned.
His comments came as he maintained that he wants what is best for Barbados, now and into the future.
“I am still here as a concerned citizen, who is becoming even more concerned as a citizen. I am on the sidelines and I am trying not to get involved in it, but there are things that I would have helped to do as a Prime Minister and a Minister of Finance, that I think are important that I will comment upon because I feel that they are important,” said Arthur, who is a trained economist.
In that vein, Arthur who led the Barbados Labour Party from 1993 until 2010 when he resigned from that position, and later left the Party choosing then to sit in the House of Assembly as an Independent, while not mentioning it specifically, hinted at his disapproval of the BLP’s proposal to increase non-contributory pension from $155 to $225 a week. He voiced his concern as he explained that one of the most important things that his administration did when it found the National Insurance Scheme on the verge of bankruptcy, due to financial policies and the ageing population, was to undertake pension reform which included gradually raising the age of retirement. Given that, Arthur has warned against measures that could roll back the success already achieved from the measures his administration decided to take and which continue today.
“We established a task force under the Social Partnership to rescue it and restore it and reform it. We put in place a formula to make sure that it could remain sound. I feel that the stability of the National Insurance is a fundamental matter because it affects people’s livelihoods in their golden days and if we don’t keep it stable then you can put a burden on the young population,” the economist explained.
Arthur added, “I will comment on things like that and things that I believe are important, but I am not getting involved [in the politics].”
The former three-term Prime Minister, stating that this country is in a “very desperate situation”, said that going forward Barbados requires a government that would restore stability. As such, he is adamant that any political party seeking to form the next administration must tell the public that before “we hand out sweets, we must restore order and stability to our national affairs”. (JRT)