Rare show of political unity

IN A SHOW of uncommon harmony in Parliament this week, the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) spoke in one accord on the election of The Most Honourable Jeffrey Bostic to the highest office in the land – the presidency.

There were no loud protestations, no interruptions as Members made their contributions and no attempts at oneupmanship as has become the norm since Christ Church South Member of Parliament Ralph Thorne crossed the floor in February 2024.

His defection from the ruling BLP which, until then had all 30 seats in the House of Assembly for a second time, meant that there was now an opposition voice in the Chamber since the calling of elections in January 2022 silenced former Leader of the Opposition Joseph Atherley, another defector from the clean sweep of the May 2018 General Election.

From 2022, the House of Assembly was a place where there were hardly any opposing voices, save for the one or two occasional expressions of dissatisfaction by one or two members.

Such a prevailing chummy atmosphere is not always good for democracy as some critical things can be overlooked, and we had and still have instances were draft laws were taken before Parliament and in some cases sailed through before flaws were pointed out.

Not every occasion will be a unifying one and not every instance will call for a divide.

This latest selection of a president is a fine example that not everything calls for a dissenting voice.

President-elect retired Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic enjoys a solid professional reputation in all his endeavours, as a career military man assuming various roles and representing Barbados overseas; as a politician representing The City of Bridgetown; as the Minister of Health and Wellness who steered Barbados through the devastating COVID-19 pandemic and following his retirement from politics, he was the coordinating consultant for civil and military cooperation within the Caribbean region for the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

However, the other issue occupying the spotlight this week, full free movement of citizens among four countries is an example of where the voice of criticism is necessary.

The latest case involves the freeing up of certain travelling and immigration restrictions on the movement of people between Barbados, Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica. The initiative is one to be applauded – in the name of regionalism.

However, commensurate amendments to the local immigration and citizenship laws to accommodate such moving around have been overlooked. That oversight, hopefully, will be taken care of when Parliament sits next week.

There’s a correlation between the start of the full free movement of people which began on October 1 and the Caribbean Community (Movement of Skilled Nationals) Act, Cap. 186A debated in Parliament in February last year that widened the net for skilled workers all the way to agricultural workers, domestic workers and private security officers.

Now, more than a year after that had been dealt with, loose ends have not been tied up, resulting in a return to Parliament this week for the full free movement.

This occurrence is a reminder that there is merit in listening when there are opposing voices as doing so can save time, energy and embarrassment.