In a scathing parliamentary address, Opposition Senator Ryan Walters has launched a vehement critique against Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s administration, accusing the government of exploiting its legislative majority to enact constitutional changes that serve partisan interests rather than public good. The condemnation follows the House of Assembly’s passage of a bill restricting parliamentarians’ ability to cross the floor, a move Walters characterized as fundamentally undemocratic.
Speaking during Friday’s Senate session, Walters articulated what he described as growing discontent among both intellectual circles and ordinary citizens regarding the government’s legislative trajectory. He asserted that the administration’s priorities have systematically shifted from addressing citizen needs toward consolidating political power through constitutional manipulation.
Walters identified a concerning pattern of constitutional amendments following each of the administration’s electoral landslides, tracing this trend to 2018 when qualification requirements were modified to accommodate two additional party members in the Senate. The senator employed a tennis metaphor—’30-love’—to emphasize the government’s three consecutive sweeps of all House seats in 2018, 2022, and 2026, expressing astonishment that constitutional alteration consistently became the first order of business after each victory.
The current amendment before the Senate, which limits MPs’ ability to change party affiliation, represents the latest iteration of this pattern. Walters noted that a similar attempt failed in 2022 following that year’s election victory, only to be reintroduced in the current legislative session.
Adding significant weight to Walters’ criticisms, the Barbados Bar Association issued a formal rebuke highlighting its exclusion from the legislative process. The Association’s Friday press release described the bill’s introduction without legal consultation as ‘a troubling disregard for established democratic norms and expert legal guidance.’ Walters emphasized that these concerns transcend partisan politics, reflecting a genuine erosion of democratic safeguards and growing alienation between the government and vital national institutions.