Opposition Leader Mia Mottley (centre) being embraced by supporters prior to making her response to the Annual Budgetary Proposals and Financial Statements yesterday.
Opposition Leader Mia Mottley is insisting that the fundamental issue facing the country is a lack of leadership.
Responding to the 2017 Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals, Mottley stressed that Barbados’ economy is currently experiencing economic turmoil due to a lack of “leadership of the country, leadership of the Government, [and] leadership of the Cabinet”.
She even suggested that the absence of leadership has been frustrating progress in the country, noting that Barbadians need to come to terms with that reality.
Mottley particularly took a swipe at Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s leadership style, accusing him of not addressing problems affecting the nation with a matter of urgency, or coming into contact with the economic circumstances of the country, or the financial woes of citizens.
“Nothing meaningful will happen in this country, as long as the country remains afflicted with the uninspired, lacklustre, indifferent and incompetent leadership...” she said.
“We knew that he did not talk to us, but we got accustomed to that. But we didn’t know that he didn’t talk to officials too who he should be speaking to. We thought that he spoke to them. . .I say to you Mr Speaker that leadership is a fundamental issue to get us out of this,” she said.
Outlining that she was in no way impressed with what she described as a “vicious” 2017 Budgetary Proposal presented by Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Mottley said she believes that the “Prime Minister of Barbados needs to take responsibility for the actions of his Minister of Finance”.
“There is no other Minister of Finance in the world that has had as many credit downgrades under his stewardship as this Minister of Finance...
“The Prime Minister can find himself talking to us about everything under the sun, except the state of the Barbados economy. And here you have sir, here you have a Minister of Finance rising to his feet yesterday and setting forth a new set of reasons for his failings,” she said. (AH)