From Caribbean360

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Friday July 25, 2014, CMC – Former Prime Minister Owen Arthur Friday announced his resignation as a member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) which he has led as Prime Minister for 14 years.

He handed in his letter of resignation with immediate effect to the office of the Opposition Barbados Labour Party Friday morning.

Owen Arthur, who led the party to defeat in the 2013 general election but retained his parliamentary seat in the constituency of St Peter, indicated that he will remain in parliament as an independent member until his term of office comes to an end in 2018.

Arthur was Prime Minister of Barbados from 1994 to 2008, making him the longest serving Barbadian Prime Minister to date. He was also Leader of the Opposition in Barbados from 2010 to 2013.

He led The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) to victory in the 1994 general election and also won the 1999 and 2003 general elections.

The David Thompson led Democratic Labour Party defeated the Barbados Labour Party in the 2008 general election, resulting in Owen Arthur stepping down as party leader, however Arthur remained Member of Parliament for the constituency of Saint Peter.

Arthur returned as BLP leader in 2010, however following the 2013 general election defeat he was replaced by the current BLP opposition leader, Mia Mottley.

Arthur’s resignation from the BLP comes one day after thousands of Barbadians took to the streets to protest against the imposition of the Municipal Solid Waste Tax. However Arthur tried to distance himself from Solid Waste Tax issue as seen in this tweet from the local media company, Barbados Today.

The midday march, led by Mia Mottley – leader of the opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) ended outside the office of Prime Minister, Freundel Stuart, where she delivered a letter of protest on behalf of people across the island.

IMAGE: owen-arthur

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Barbados prime minister ‘opens door’ for Owen Arthur following resignation

From Caribbean360

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Sunday July 27, 2014, CMC – Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has expressed no surprise at former prime minister, Owen Arthur’s resignation, from the Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP), and BLP Leader Mia Mottley, thanked Arthur for his service.

Arthur, on Friday, handed in his letter of resignation with immediate effect to the Office of the Opposition BLP, ending 43 years of membership in which he led the party and country as prime minister for 14 years.

Owen Arthur, who led the party to defeat in the 2013 general election but retained his parliamentary seat in the constituency of St Peter, indicated that he will remain in parliament as an independent member until his term of office comes to an end in 2018.

Arthur was Prime Minister of Barbados from 1994 to 2008, making him the longest serving Barbadian Prime Minister to date. He was also Leader of the Opposition in Barbados from 2010 to 2013.

Stuart, who heads the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), on Friday cited a historical example of a sitting BLP member of parliament – at the time representing what is now Arthur’s constituency of St Peter – resigning to cross the floor and join the then governing DLP, led by Errol Barrow.

Stuart suggested Arthur is free to follow the example of history.

“Soon or later members of parliament get to realise that the Barbados Labour Party is not the place to be…if Mr Arthur has now got to the stage of this realisation, I am glad for him…I’m glad that he has seen the light, the light was there ever since.”

Opposition Leader, Mia Mottley, said, “Owen Arthur served the Barbados Labour Party and Barbados at a critical time before the end of the last century. He helped to lay the foundation for the Barbados that is and the Barbados that we are struggling to preserve”.

She added, “These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary times require of us courage and extra ordinary action”.

IMAGE: Freundel_Stuart_owen_arthur_400x235_361785572

BARBADOS PRIME MINISTER, FREUNDEL STUART (LEFT). FORMER BARBADOS PRIME MINISTER, OWEN ARTHUR PICTURED RIGHT. (FILE PHOTO)

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