T I M E L I N E

• January 2008 – Owen Arthur endures crushing defeat as Barbados Labour Party’s fourth term hopes dashed by 20-10 swing in General Elections, claims to spend his time as Backbencher and opens way for Mia Mottley to be Opposition Leader.
• February 2010 – Makes first public appearance since assuming Backbencher role at Errol Barrow Centre at invitation of Royal Fidelity, Bajan Reporter warned Ms Mottley how it seems Arthur is attempting a comeback, was told no such thing is happening…
• (Interim) 2010 – Arthur, while UWI lecturer and drawing large fee as guest speaker through region, questions Mottley’s morals, even as he ignores how his first marriage ended and his second nuptial began?
• October 2010 – Former Backbencher Owen Arthur with Gang Of Five’s Prior Park Accord (incl. George Payne who Arthur fired as acting AG after clash with Roy Morris over press freedoms) replaces Mia Mottley and resumes Opposition Leadership, a post he has not held since 1994…
• January 2011 – Failed bid in By Election for St John seat under Arthur’s first act as Opposition Leader for second time. When an ad campaign was attacking the widow of late PM David Thompson in referring to her seeking seat as “a dynasty,”this was seen by many as a mistake, it went on how she is a foreigner (St Lucian) this as it is known how BLP candidate Hudson Griffith is Vincentian of Bajan parentage. What was ignored? Both Bees and DEM’s use fact the late Errol Barrow changed the laws on being an MP to be either Caricom citizen and/or member of the Commonwealth, only the post of PM requires at least being a naturalised Barbadian (late David Thompson was born in UK of Barbadian parents).
• February 2013 – Buoyed by false hopes of Opposition victories in Nevis & Grenada shortly before and during Elections; Arthur leads BLP into a third defeat. (include previous By Election) Despite gaining more seats via new candidates, he cites the youthfulness of contenders as BLP’s downfall in securing a return to Office? Logical?
• July 2014 – Subsequent to Mia Mottley’s hugely successful protest march against the Municipal Solid Waste Tax using a Social Media campaign of #ISHALLWALK, Owen Arthur says in a print interview how he will have an announcement soon… The next morning he cancels his BLP membership and decides to finish his term as an Independent, saying the BLP is under a megalomaniac… Over the weekend he vows he will NOT be forming a new party using certain Gang Of Five has-been’s members – given his track record (see above), can this denial be accepted prima facie? In October 2010 did Arthur not also declare he supposedly did not seek to resume as Opposition Leader?

I drew on these particular situations to indicate Mr Arthur’s tactics for the public at large or interacting with his own colleagues usually appear to have a tendency in engaging a strategy where truth is either bent or partially obscured, but seldom left unadorned.

Can Mr Arthur be truly viewed as trustworthy in claiming although flattered (So then why admit that?), there is no intention to create a deeper schism in the BLP. If this was his truly genuine intent, then when he did an interview on why he did not participate in the #ISHALLWALK movement, there was no need to mention his intention for a special Press Conference the following morning.

Instead, Arthur could have simply gone quietly to BLP’s Roebuck St Headquarters the next day and submitted his own marching papers and let the BLP deliver a quiet statement thereafter. If Arthur truly has no rancor for Mottley and the BLP, then why did he use so much sturm und drang for what could have been subtle, understated yet powerful diplomacy even if a mini-rebellion?

The new equation of seating in Parliament as 16-13-1 has awoken Freundel Stuart who suddenly declares he’s willing to work with Arthur. But Arthur claims he won’t use his Independent MP capacity as a cudgel against the BLP under Mia Mottley… This is same man who declared six years ago he’s only a Backbencher, right?

Yet one cannot blame the ruling PM, this finally affords an opportunity for his Ministers or the DEM’s genuine backbenchers to have a sick day or vacation, since this Opposition now cannot create a deadlock so easily at present – while the DEM’s have inched closer towards a 2/3’s majority for any heavy regulations needed to be fast tracked…

If between now and February 2018, any of the following does NOT come to light? Either Arthur either siding against the Bees on a House vote or the formation of a new movement inclusive of one or more engineers of the Prior Park Accord? Then I will be happy to buy Owen Arthur a beverage of his own choosing out of my own pocket!