UPDATED: October 19, 2010, 9:47am Bridgetown
I can’t believe that I originally titled the article “… roll of “The Snitch” but it happened because I had too much rum at the time. I got it right when I wrote “Who is the person dubbed “The Snitch”? What was her role in removing the Honourable Mia A. Mottley from her post as Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition for Barbados?”
But that doesn’t excuse the title error. Can’t believe I did that. But I did. I’ve changed it to “role” but probably screwed up the links and all that. Can’t believe I’m hung over on a Tuesday mrning but there ya go.
Must drink less rum.
Ok. Tomorrow, I will start drinking less. Realy. 😉
Cliverton
Spies, traitors, anger and tears – Welcome to politics!
While the pot was boiling at the BLP’s Roebuck Street Headquarters on Monday morning, journalist Ian Bourne had his camera focused on some of the quick “backroom” happenings that usually slide by under the radar. I guess Owen thought nobody noticed because he got a little flustered when Mr. Bourne asked about the conversation.
Who is the person dubbed “The Snitch”? What was her role in removing the Honourable Mia A. Mottley from her post as Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition for Barbados?
The Bajan Reporter has the exclusive story and the unmodified photo: Barbados Labour Party allows Internal Strife to place their Public Reputation on the balance – Owen Arthur claims “No Wish” to cast Aside Mia Mottley…
Barbados Free Press 
Oh you are naughty, I said SOME *MAY* consider her as… I did not say she was indeed a snitch 😛 But I glad you keeping track, as I am working on the Roebuck St aftermath where Q&A from myself and Wade Gibbons had many BLP-ites quite annoyed!
Er… it’s ‘role’, not ‘roll’. Thanks!
Maybe a dice was rolled …
“What was her role in removing the Honourable Mia A. Mottley from her post as Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition for Barbados?”
Wat you talking about “roll”????
I think that whole episode was about a gamble, a roll of the dice.
Not much help for Barbados, but these characters are in it for themselves.
Does anyone remember what happened in 2006 with Dr. Estwick and his constituency branch – it will make for some interesting reading. Check out who proposed the no confidence motion at that time. We here in Bim definitely have short memories. The Nation Newspaper reported:
Estwick out?
by NEVILLE CLARKE
Posted: Jan 9, 2006 13:00 UTC
BRIDGETOWN – The St Philip West Branch of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) last night spoke in a loud voice.
They do not want incumbent MP Dr David Estwick to represent them at the next general election.
Last night the branch overwhelmingly passed a resolution expressing no
confidence in the embattled incumbent.
The resolution, which was proposed by constituent and attorney-at-law Adriel Brathwaite and seconded by Fitz Harewood, asked that steps be taken assoon as possible to identify a candidate to carry the party’s banner in the constituency in the next general election.
By a margin of 22 votes with one abstention, the constituents made it clear they no longer had any confidence in Estwick, who failed to turn up at the meeting.
Speaking to the DAILY NATION at the conclusion of the meeting which attracted over 40 party members and supporters, Brathwaite said: “No one is more important than the branch or the DLP. Estwick has publicly said that he has no intention of working with this branch as can be seen from yesterday’s article carried in the SUNDAY SUN and the branch has resolved that the party finds a replacement candidate for Estwick as soon as possible.”
Chairman of the branch, Carl Mapp, said the resolution would be forwarded to general secretary of the party, George Pilgrim, later today.
Mapp also assured the party faithful present that he expected the resolution to be brought before the Executive Council on Wednesday and the General Council at a later date.
Meanwhile, reacting to last night’s development, Estwick said that “no illegitimate management committee of St Philip West can call a branch meeting of the membership”, and has scheduled a Press conference for 10 a.m. today at his branch office at Garrett Road, Mangrove, St Philip.
Questioning the legality of yesterday’s meeting which was held at Princess Margaret Secondary School, the St Philip West MP said: “The Executive Council for 2004/2005 ruled that the management committee which called yesterday’s meeting was illegal and ruled that it could not hold office in St Philip West because several of the members were not resident in the constituency.
“This is in breach of Clause 41 of the party’s constitution. This means that the management committee cannot determine anything about the constituency.”
This is not a gender issue. It’s about political opportunity, pure & simple. If it was a man the coup d’etat would of still happened all the same. Mia was never a threat to the DLP, Owen was. Sinckler is not seen as a formidable foe. Hence the hounds smelling blood have pick a 3 star leader.
It goes deeper. With Owen at the helm, the elites have an ally in him. No more hard sell of Barbados assets in foreign hands. The rich gets richer. The poor gets poorer and Bim slides further under the hangman noose.
With the ‘beautiful’ ending statement – I did the best I could do under the present circumstances.
So Ian who did you support?
At long last, I get another chance to be UNDER Owen’s RULE !
Lynette,
did I read you right ?
Ian,
If you and Wade Gibbon’s questions have the gang upset already and this is just the first day following devouring one of their own, Lord help you and Wade when they have the reins of power.
Good luck to you, boys, your days of all this access and asking tough questions are numbered, so you had better get in all of them early.
Very good journalistic work.
@ Musing: How prophetic! For some reason it seems that as of tonight that “BajanReporter dot com” website is inaccessible through a certain internet provider (not the new one). Is that because of Mr. Bourne’s recent reporting of the competitions service, or his recent political high jinx at the BLP’s expense? Speculation, perhaps, but food for thought nonetheless.
First let me apologize for the length that will follow but I feel compel to do this and ask you to bear with me if you can. I will be the first to make a public apology to the PM’s family, and the country as a whole that I entered the ongoing political debate.
There has been something so discomforting about this whole saga. Something that I couldn’t put my finger on; and it wouldn’t go away. Like everyone else seeking to make sense of it, I could only see it through political lens and listened carefully to the arguments on both sides: gender disparity or “politics is war and it’s just politics, these men smell blood, etc. etc.”
Until I brought it to my prayer life. This is not about preaching; it is not about dogma and doctrine; it is about a simple thing that following talking to Our Heavenly Father and has given perhaps a nuance that has been overlooked and a profoundly sad one.
It is that if the mutiny that took place came by way of “smelling blood,” then I ask God to have the final say on all of us, including myself, who would presume to seek to build a future on another person’s health and well-being. Life, is God’s, every single day that we open our eyes is a gift from God; and it is presumptuous for anyone to think that they can plan on the outcome of anyone’s fragile health IF INDEED THIS IS THE CASE. One is unable to speak definitively, but one can only look at what has taken place and ask what urgency in the economy, in the life of Bajans, in Barbados in general that brought about the ousting of a leader? The public is yet to hear what this urgency was. And as such, it is not without reason to link the ousting with something/someone else.
In such a case, the prayer on Sunday is an intercession that many need to life their voices and hands and cry to God to show His Power, that He alone is the author of life; and that no man, or woman should be so presumptuous to seek to usurp or predict God’s power over life.
Upon deeper reflection of the whole matter, I too felt an immense sadness for the family of the PM. There is plenty of time (if indeed health doesn’t return) to have sought leadership later on. But any form of politics or power play should take a back seat to this family, a wife, and the children, and the parents of the PM. It is not political, it is humane, it is compassion, and it’s showing respect for life and the dignity of it. And where ambition and the seeking of power take precedence over these, am I to believe that where there is no respect for the sick or God-forbid the dying there is respect for the living? If we don’t have respect for the most fragile, it is far-fetched to believe that we will for the robust; for it is the weak that stirs up the best, not the worst, of behavior in as human persons.
In my poor humble opinion, all that is good, compassionate and merciful that ought to have taken precedence and extended to this family undergoing such a sad and challenging time has been pushed out of the discussion. May God interject Himself, and raise up life and show that He has the last word on life.
Just stop and put ourselves in the place of the PM, really just stop reading and do so now, and ask ourselves if we would want to be treated in this manner. Forget being a BLP or DLP supporter and think only as a human person, created in the image of God and who turn to God every day for His help and mercy most especially in times of serious illness.
We need (notice I said we, for I too am examining myself) to really take stock of ourselves and look at who we have become as a people. When did we change so much as a people, that we allow others calling themselves politicians dictate and overpower our dignity and consciences and blind us to who we are as a people—we were never like this, we are a country in which almost every parish is named after one of God’s followers and we have allowed certain people to come along and preach a politics of inclusion that devour the lives of others, divides us, pit one side against the other and elevates itself above Gods’ reign over life.
Every politician wants to win, that is the nature of the game, I understand this, but any good politician that has a country and its people as his/her primary focus and not just the seeking of power, want to work on behalf of ALL its citizen, want Barbados to well as a whole, and not divide and conquer. Is it really pass our imagination to envision a country in which being loyal to either side of the party doesn’t require us to hate and destroy each other? Is this what we want to pass to our children after we are gone? Is this the best we have to offer us a people?
Please let us take time out and examine ourselves and ask ourselves whether we are truly proud of whom we have become as a people; is money and progress worth this? May God have the LAST WORD ON this.