Democratic Labour Party Delay Membership Decision for Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne

In what can be described as a surprising turn of events, the vote to approve the membership of Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne into the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has ended in a stalemate.

Yesterday, all 26 members of the party’s executive council met at George Street headquarters in Belleville, St Michael, for more than two hours, but were unable to reach a consensus. Instead, the decision has been deferred pending a meeting between Thorne and the DLP executive at a date still to be determined.

Speaking to the media following the meeting, the party’s general secretary Steve Blackett explained that the circumstances surrounding Thorne’s application were unprecedented.

“The executive council of the Democratic Labour Party met this afternoon around 4 p.m. and we made a decision at this meeting to delay the admittance of Ralph Thorne into the Democratic Labour Party and that is premised on the fact that we will have more consultations with him on his coming into the fellowship. This decision was taken by a majority vote by the executive council,” Blackett said.

He added: “All of these scenarios are new to the Democratic Labour Party; we are treading this path for the first time and, therefore, it is all new to us.”

Had the application been approved, it would have meant that Thorne would be the DLP’s political leader, reducing the presidency of Dr Ronnie Yearwood to an administrative position.

However, when pressed about any possible precluding factors which may have caused reservations about the Opposition Leader’s application, Blackett refused to go into further details, stating only “this is an internal matter”.

According to the constitution of the DLP, eligibility for membership is as follow: “All persons of the age of 16 years and upward are eligible for membership of the Democratic Labour Party, provided that: (a) They are nationals, citizens or residents of Barbados, or their descendants; (b) They are not members or supporters of any other political party in Barbados; (c) They are not members or supporters of any group or organisation whose object are prejudicial to incompatible with those of the Democratic Labour Party.” Other stipulations include an affirmation to support the principles of the party, policies, and constitution. The mood outside party headquarters was tensionfilled.(CLM)