The circling of carrions?

Within the next week or so, Mr Owen Arthur, having already taken over as leader of the Opposition in Barbados' parliament, will be official recrowned as leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP).

Last week, the BLP's parliamentary group dethroned Mia Mottley, their standard-bearer, paving the way for Mr Arthur's return. He had stepped aside when the BLP lost the government in 2008. Mr Arthur had served nearly 14 years as prime minister.

Ms Mottley's decapitation was clean and swift, and some would say a testament to Barbadian efficiency. Democracy worked.

But it is difficult not to assume that the timing of the regicide against Ms Mottley didn't have to do with the expectation of Prime Minister Thompson's passing, and the likelihood of his successor calling an early election.

Mr Arthur's supercilious and paternalistic remarks about Ms Mottley, his former protégée, didn't help.

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