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Vol. 33, Issue 3 QUEENS/LONG ISLAND/BRONX/MANHATTAN Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 2022
DLP IS IN
TROUBLE
Concerns grow over fate of
Barbados opposition party
By Bert Wilkinson
The governing Barbados
Labor Party (BLP) has again
won all 30 parliamentary seats
in general elections held a week
ago and while many islanders
are celebrating the party’s victory,
there is increasing doubt as
to whether the main opposition
party can rise from the ashes in
time for the next elections.
Political pundits had predicted
that the BLP, led by first
woman Prime Minister Mia
Mottley would have dropped at
least three seats to the DLP
but voters, still reeling from the
economic mayhem from the last
Freundel Stuart DLP administration,
decided to play it safe
and stick with Mottley and the
BLP.
After all, the snap elections,
called a full 18 months before
constitutionally due, were held
less than a month after the world
watched a flawless ceremony at
the end of November when Barbados
joined Guyana, Trinidad
and Dominica in becoming a
republic, electing its own native
head of state instead of Britain’s
Queen Elizabeth.
Mottley rode the euphoria
of the transition, appearing to
hide it under the guise that she
had needed a fresh mandate to
help unite a fragmented country.
This was also amid swirling
rumors of a possible cabinet
rebellion against her alleged
autocratic style and amid some
dissatisfaction with the fact that
the switch to a republic was
not put to a referendum. The
snap call also caught the DLP
completely off guard and unprepared.
Its struggles on the campaign
trail showed said observers.
But all the doubts about Mottley’s
style and the need for an
elected opposition disappeared
a week ago when BLP supporters
turned out in far greater
numbers than those of the DLP
to set a local record with the
incumbent party sweeping all
30 parliamentary seats for the
second time. Only Keith Mitchell
and his New National Party
(NNP) in nearby Grenada has
done better. PM Mitchell has
done so three times in the past
20 years and is threatening to
do so again in polls due next
year.
As to the situation with the
main opposition DLP, critics
and political pundits had
blasted the DLP for lining up
several unknown candidates
against seasoned BLP ministers
and others. Additionally, it was
clear that many of the candidates
were poorly funded and
had struggled to cope with the
rewards of incumbency.
Worse yet said respected DLP
and regional political strategist,
Hartley Henry, the party made
a mistake in putting a much
vilified former PM Stuart on the
trail where he failed to apologize
for tanking the economy and
Senate Majority Leader Charles “Chuck” Schumer swears in Mercedes Narcisse. Offi ce of
Council Member Mercedes Narcisse
Schumer swears in Narcisse
By Nelson A. King
Senate Majority Leader
Charles “Chuck” Schumer
on Saturday swore in newly
elected Council Member
Mercedes Narcisse at a community
celebration at South
Shore High School in Canarsie,
Brooklyn.
Haitian-born Narcisse, who
represents the 46th Council
District, was joined at the ceremony
by hundreds of constituents
and Who’s Who of
New York politics.
Frank Shea, Narcisse’s deputy
chief of staff and director
of communications, told Caribbean
Life that the council
woman was “joined in attendance
by colleagues in government.”
They included Mayor Eric
Adams; Congress Members
Yvette Clarke and Hakeem Jeffries;
Attorney General Letitia
James; New York State Comptroller
Tom DiNapoli; New
York City Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams; New York
City Comptroller Brad Lander;
Brooklyn Borough President
Antonio Reynoso; Assemblyman
Nick Perry; State Sen.
Roxanne Persaud; Assemblywoman
Jamie Williams; “and
a bevy of colleagues from the
New York City Council.”
“One would have assumed
the night would have belonged
to Mercedes, but the new
councilwoman made it clear
this was a celebration that
belonged to the entire 46th
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