Stuart Is The King, Who Are The Pawns?

Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart

There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honour – Benjamin Disraeli

Recent election results in St. Lucia and Jamaica suggest the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has been naughty.  The ‘gift’ to the DLP this Yuletide Season has been ‘The Letter‘.

Chatter on the underground suggest Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart will issue a statement perhaps as early as this weekend. The expectation by many political pundits is  that one or more in the camp will have to pay for the widely discussed treachery exposed by the NATION newspaper. The flipside is the parallel chatter that key players have been placed on election watch in the event Prime Minister Stuart calls a ‘snap’ election. If the St. Lucia result forced a few government MPs to seek audience with the Prime Minister – Sinckler admitted to the treachery in the NATION’s Big Interview – how  will the Jamaica result have exacerbated the concerns for those  on the government bench.

Some believe Prime Minister Stuart has taken too long to act but it should be  obvious he is not the type to react in the midst of the Christmas  season. Stuart is known to be a devout Christian and would not have  contemplated interrupting a significant Christian festival by responding  to what some believe to be political chicanery in his camp.

The disquiet in the DLP camp caused by concern at Prime Minister Stuart’s leadership style has effectively ruled out an early call to arms or has it? This matter was brought to a head by a poll allegedly undertaken by pollster Peter Wickham which was not complimentary of Stuart’s leadership of the government. Here is that name again Peter Wickham!

Prime Minister Stuart’s Quandary Unravelled

Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart

In addressing the question of whether it is better to be loved or feared, Machiavelli writes, “The answer is that one would like to be both the one and the other; but because it is difficult to combine them, it is far safer to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.” As Machiavelli asserts, commitments made in peace are not always kept in adversity; however, commitments made in fear are kept out of fear. Yet, a prince must ensure that he is not feared to the point of hatred, which is very possible – Niccolò Machiavelli

Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart finds himself in a quandary as a result the widely publicised letter incident. It is a fact some members of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) felt it important enough to seek an audience with the Prime Minister. Whether all of them agreed to sign ‘The Letter’ is irrelevant at this stage in light of Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler’s interview with Editor in Chief of the NATION newspaper Kaymar Jordan.

Since the revelation that some DLP members are concerned with  Stuart’s leadership and the length of his coat tails with a general election looming the political chatter has gotten noisier. The current reality for the government is that having to manage in the harsh economic environment would have made being re-elected a difficult undertaking. The imbroglio caused by ‘The Letter’ has easily shifted the advantage to the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) its own perceived leadership issues not withstanding.  Why the disaffected group would have entertained thoughts of communicating with the Prime Minister in the form of a letter remains unfathomable at this stage. Some say it is as a result of political ignorance and naiveté. Others believe the plot is a sinister effort to reorder the political structure of the DLP.

The Letter: A Question Of Honour And Integrity

Submitted by Yardbroom

The Letter

It is “alleged” that all eleven members had not seen the draft copy and it is speculation to conclude that the members concerned would have signed the final copy.  Therefore, it is not the situation as was reported in the Nation in their report of Sunday December 11, 2011 which stated:

“ELEVEN GOVERNMENT MEMBERS of parliament (MPs)- including seven cabinet ministers – yesterday affixed their signatures to a formal letter and immediately dispatched it to Prime Minister Freundel Stuart requesting an “urgent” audience.”

One could “speculate” that they would have signed because there was a conversation but that is just “speculation” the FACT is they did not “AFFIX” a signature as reported.

Members Of Parliament Or Judases? Clear Yourselves!

By Caswell Franklyn, Head of Unity Workers Union

All Members of Parliament are styled “Honourable”; however, the reported behaviour of the eleven that were featured in the Nation, as attempting to oust the Prime Minister, is anything other than honourable. I do not want to see them hiding behind semantics: I want them to come out, like the Honourable Denis Kellman, and say unequivocally that I had no part to play in this sordid mess so help me God. If they fail to publicly disassociate themselves from this reported act of treachery, they would forever stand condemn, in my mind as being worse than Judas.

I am not saying that there should never be any disagreement among party leaders and their fellow Members of Parliament. I am making bold to say that everyone of the persons that are reported to be associated with this bloodless coup attempt look extremely bad in my eyes right now. I heard is said once that anytime two people sit and always agree at least one is an idiot, so I would expect that there would be disagreement in any group of twenty-one people. However, the way that the dissent is handled speak volumes about the character of those involved, and quite frankly, their characters have taken a bashing by the force of category five public opinion.