…But as Prime Minister is against “mob scene”
But the cheese or income that Prime Minister Barrow referred to in 2005 is also the bone of contention for the cane farmers in 2009. They are fighting to keep a stable income from an industry that is slowly drying up. In William Shakespeare’s King Henry the Fourth, King Henry said Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Barrow now wears that crown of Prime Minister, and uneasy lies his head since one man was killed in Monday’s strike. At his press conference on Monday, P.M. Barrow had to turn against the idea of civil unrest, the very one he once supported.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow (February 2nd, 2009)
“But I will not negotiate in the context of a mob scene. Secondly, in terms of the issue that has provoked all this, I am open to what the farmers have to say. BSI assures me that it is open to continued dialogue. Finally, while the security forces will be asked to exercise every restraint, the people in this country need to know that law and order will prevail and the farmers need to respect the rights of others. We have exercised a great deal of restraint so far. They have every right to advocate their cause but then let’s do so in a way that we see them still within the bounds of the law and we see them respect the rights of other citizens of this country.”
“Neither I nor BSI would negotiate in those circumstances and he needed to try his best to persuade them that we really needed to meet in a neutral place to try to work things through. Understand that I was not even, as a precondition saying, you must remove your vehicles, you must stop burning tires, you must allow free passage to regular civilians wanting to do their business; all I said was we cannot negotiate in that atmosphere in Orange Walk at your office. It will have to be at a venue removed from the hurly burly. If they are not going to call off what is happening this evening so that we can get together and talk, the situation will get worst. It is already a disaster… it is going to be a disaster magnified a thousand fold if we cannot all come to our senses and begin the process of negotiation again.”
Is it now a change of heart or a change of mind?
