Mottley pushed out

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Outgoing Opposition Leader Mia Mottley yesterday said she would remain committed to the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) but accused it of engaging in a kangaroo court to ensure her removal from the post she has held since 2008.

"It has been my honour to lead my party ... as I leave this office, I want to thank my constituents, my parliament colleagues and all of those persons in and outside the BLP and Barbados, who have provided their support over the past 33 months," she said.

Mottley said a letter which had been sent inviting her to attend a meeting to discuss her stewardship had also been sent to the media and her political opponents, adding "it is to charge me, convict me, sentence me and then try to tell the public you are being fair and civil by inviting me to a trial".

BLP chairman George Payne told reporters that the majority of the opposition parliamentarians had no confidence in Mottley and had "unanimously" endorsed former Prime Minister Owen Arthur, 61, to be her successor.

Awaiting a response

Payne said a letter had been sent to the governor general indicating that "Owen Seymour Arthur is the person we support as the leader of the opposition" and that the party was now awaiting his response, sealing the fate of the 42-year-old attorney who led the party after Arthur was trounced by the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) by a 20-10 margin in the January 2008 elections.

Mottley and two other BLP legislators did not attend the meeting and Payne said those present said "they no longer have confidence in Mia Mottley as leader of opposition," adding that while he did not want to go into details about the issues that forced Mottley out, "it is fairly obvious that Mia Mottley no longer has the confidence of the majority of the members of Barbados Labour Party".

Arthur, 61, who was due to hold a news conference later in the day, said he regretted that this day had come and that he has full confidence in Mottley.

"As you would appreciate, this is a very difficult time for the country, it is a very difficult time for the party, it is a very difficult time for me," Arthur said, adding "I think the world of Mia Mottley, there is nobody in public life in Barbados who I would have facilitated to enable them to become as much as they could be.

Arthur, who led the BLP government from 1994 until 2008, said he had never envisioned being back in the position as opposition leader.