Barbados’ newest political party wants voters to give its members the opportunity to serve!
That is the plea of the leaders of the Alliance Party for Progress (APP) ahead of next month’s general elections.
In a surprising announcement, Reverend Joseph Atherley the former leader of the People’s Party for Democracy (PdP) and founder of the United Progressive Party (UPP) Lynette Eastmond today revealed they were joining forces to form the APP.
While not giving a timeframe around when discussions commenced regarding the formation of a new party, Atherley said he had been in constant contact with Eastmond since 2018.
In forming the coalition, Reverend Atherley, who will head the new party with Eastmond as his deputy, contended that Barbados was no longer a two-party state.
He said despite the Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) resounding 30-0 victory in the last general election in 2018, there was a changing wind in the air.
“Barbadians would have been accustomed to a political context and culture within where there was a two-party system and that both parties would have been represented in the halls of government. At the end of the day, the election results suggested 30-0 and one party was totally eclipsed. All things are possible in politics and at the end of the day it is the electorate, the voting public of Barbados which will determine the outcome of things,” Atherley said during a press conference at Opposition headquarters in the Worthing Corporate Centre, Christ Church.
“…Things in Barbados have changed. You look at the St George North by-election what was the turnout out there? The governing party lost about 1600 to 1700 votes which it had captured in 2018 in just a short period of time so Barbadians have been significantly turned off by what has been offered by the two-party dominant system and I think they have been crying out for an alternative.”
Atherley also chided Prime Minister Mia Mottley for her comments which he alleged were aimed at trying to transform Barbados into a one-party country.
He said Mottley’s call for ‘one Government in Barbados, behind one leader’ was one that promoted ‘one-partyism’.
“We have another political party in Barbados about seven decades old in addition to the BLP, we have other political parties in Barbados. Aren’t we allowed to have differences in opinion? Must we all sing from the same choir sheet? Must it be one body’s voice to whom we respond? One person’s drum to which we dance?” Atherley questioned.
“What does the Prime Minister mean when she said she wants one government, one unified Barbados. I hear that as a call for one-party dominance in Barbados such that we have a one-party state. We are quite concerned about that and we want to offer an alternative to that type of nonsense.”
Eastmond, who also served as the UPP’s chairman, called on Barbadians to give the APP an opportunity to serve.
She said for that to happen voters needed to ensure the party’s candidates make it into Parliament.
Eastmond gave the assurance that the APP would present “quality candidates”.
“We understand that this whole movement is a process…but the only way that we can progress to put in place new governance models that will see the greater participation of Barbadians is by giving this alliance the opportunity to have members of Parliament seated so that they can contribute to the governance of Barbados, whether in Government or in Opposition,” Eastmond said.
She pointed to the fact that most of the progressing countries in the world were not two-party states but had several political parties. randybennett@barbadostoday.bb
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