Is Prime Minister Contemplating Early Retirement?

Dean Barrow

Could today’s Budget presentation be the last for Prime Minister Dean Barrow? He has committed to stepping down as leader of the United Democratic Party at their next convention prior to the 2020 General Elections. But persistent reports have him possibly leaving much earlier, with deputy Patrick Faber waiting in the wings.  Though he made no commitments beyond next year, the Prime Minister certainly seemed like a man in his last days in charge.  He also commented on a possible successor in Queen’s Square.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“I don’t know. I don’t have any particular plan to leave before the Budget next year, but I don’t really know. Sir, while it is not for me to decide, because more likely than not, there will be a convention if there are other aspirants, as far as I am concerned, I have publicly endorsed my sister, who is really the one that has been running the constituency, and the one who won the last two elections, pretty much on her own. This last election, I don’t think I visited one home, I didn’t have to go to one constituent – of course I made sure people were taken care of. But in terms of the personal touch, it was all ‘Sister B’, that is her life. And I don’t see how I could ever endorse anybody other than Sister B. Now she and Michael Peyrefitte are extremely close; if she decides that she would want to give way for Mike, that is a matter for her. My position is that while I too think the world of Mike, Sister B absolutely deserves to be the next representative from Queen’s Square, and I think it would be a tragedy if anything were to change that.”

reigned uncontested in Queen’s Square since its creation in 1984, and except for Said Musa, he is the longest serving area representative currently in the House of Representatives.