Former PM Barrow on Divided U.D.P.

Switching hats from attorney to former party leader, Dean Barrow lamented the current state of the United Democratic Party. He expressed strong feelings over the current division within the party that has led to the naming of two leaders, Shyne Barrow and Patrick Faber.  The former party leader says as long as the division persists, the U.D.P. will not be able to effectively discharge its duties. 

Dean Barrow

Dean Barrow, Former Party Leader, U.D.P.

“The fact is that whatever may have been the position, immediately after my departure and immediately after the results of the November 2020 election, it is without a doubt a very sad state of affairs that have overtaken the United Democratic Party. The fact that the leader of the party had to face a recall to survive, but that it had to happen at all, I think it was unprecedented as far as I can recollect in the history of the U.D.P.  And, the fact as well, that notwithstanding the recall, the election, and the leader having survived the recall mechanism…”

Paul Lopez

“…to your disappointment?”

Dean Barrow

“No, I am not going to say that, not at all. The recall mechanism is a healthy safeguard that is a part of the Party’s constitution. So, that safe guard, that mechanism was triggered at the convocation of the Party.  The voting of the delegates at Bird’s Isle was surely conducted and so the leader survived and kudos to him for having survived. He was tested in a Democratic manner in accordance with the spirit of the constitution and he survived, so he must get his props. But, it is without a doubt that that is not the end of the story. The divide clearly continues within the Party. We are now being treated to the spectacle of their being two leaders, with respect to the U.D.P. One being the Party Leader and the other being the leader of the opposition, which is a constitutional position, which means he is of course the most senior official of the Party, in the House, where the Party Leader obviously sit. But, in that particular forum, the leader of the Party is subordinate to the Leader of the Opposition. In the Party forum, the Leader of the Opposition is distinctly subordinate to the Party Leader. It is an unsatisfactory state of affairs. I think that for so long as it continues it really does not comport well with our democracy.”