For healing to occur in the Barbados Labour Party there must be trust, mutual respect and communication.
So says former leader of the party Mia Mottley during her presentation on the Budget debate this morning.
Mottley said while much has been said about healing and extending olive branches, her conscience was clear and her commitment, steadfast and sure.
The MP for St Michael North East said it would have been hypocritical of her to speak today without referring to the events that occurred in recent weeks, noting that October was not a month to remember, for a number of reasons.
“To speak in this debate and not refer to what happened will make me a hypocrite,” she said, clearly stating she was not. She also said that to not address the issue would be to make a mockery of the Parliament and the people of Barbados. Mottley, in her presentation, also referred to a number of rumours which surfaced after she was ousted, giving way to returned leader Owen Arthur. She said she heard she was going to the Dems, going to be an Independent MP, adding some even said she would be forming a third party.
The MP said she has treated the rumours, some of which resurfaced again after two and a half years, with the same disdain that she always has.
Mottley said the only two times she has spoken recently was when she was removed from office and at the BLP conference when she announced she was no longer going up for chairman of the party. At that time, she recalled she was fighting for “one man, one vote”. On both occasions, she recalled that she said only time and God will determine the future.
Mottley reaffirmed that she was committed to the principles of the BLP, but also to the principles of the country. She said Barbados must make the right choices for the sake of the youth.
“I came to public life to serve and help people and I will continue to do so whether I am in or out of Parliament,” she said, ending her speech with a quote from Teddy Roosevelt, a former president of the United States of America.
carolmartindale@nationnews.com
Click Here To Read Part Of Mia Mottley’s Speech
