Opposition Walkout Sparks Debate Over Notaries Public Bill in Senate

The dramatic turn of events on Wednesday as opposition lawmakers walked out on debate of the Notaries Public Bill, prompted sharp criticism from the Deputy President of the Senate.

Senator Elizabeth Thompson, representing the government, accused the opposition of failing in their duty and refusing to “do the people’s business”. The incident occurred as the upper house debated the bill, with Thompson alleging that the opposition had withheld support for the legislation.

She challenged claims made by Opposition Senator Watson, who had suggested the government’s approach was “new, novel, offensive to good practice” and an attempt to frustrate the opposition.

“When one listens to the Honourable Senator [Watson], one would get the impression that the present government or administration has adopted an approach that is new, novel, offensive to good practice, an attempt to frustrate the opposition, poor practice in relation to delivering on a parliamentary and legislative agenda,” Senator Thompson said. She argued that, on the contrary, the government was “highly busy” in bringing agenda items to Parliament.

The deputy president acknowledged the challenges faced by opposition parties, including limited resources and access to information. However, she contrasted the current opposition’s approach with that of her own party, the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), during its time out of office.

“What we did as an opposition BLP was that you always have friends in the civil service. You always know technical people. You always know experts and specialists,” Thompson explained. She described weekly parliamentary group meetings and proactive engagement with policy issues.

Senator Thompson reserved her harshest criticism for the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), describing it as “fractured” and unable to meet to formulate policy positions or respond effectively to the government’s agenda.

“The Democratic Labour Party is now fractured,” she stated. “They cannot and are unable to meet to come up with policy positions, to respond to the government, to look at the government’s agenda. And that is the problem. What we are seeing is the decay in the Democratic Labour Party and the inability to face and do the work of the people of this country and of the government.”

The senator also refuted claims about insufficient time to review the legislation, asserting that the opposition had “90 days to read the 29 pages comprising this legislation”. She expressed disappointment in what she characterised as a lack of preparation by an opposition member, particularly given their legal background and leadership role.

“An attorney at law, the leader of government business in the Honourable Senate, a member of an opposition party which has been under extreme stress and should be in a position to demonstrate growing readiness to serve the public, has today instead opted for a smoke and mirrors campaign instead of dealing with the work of the public,” Senator Thompson said.

Emphasising the seriousness of the government’s agenda, the deputy president called for more substantive engagement from the opposition. “This government is a serious government doing serious business, and therefore one has to hear speeches that have value and substance for the public and do not just constitute smoke mirrors and sound bites,” she concluded.