Mottley, who previously served as Deputy Prime Minister, says she will allow her nine parliamentary colleagues to decide whether she, or anyone else who wants to come forward, should be the one at the wheel.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, October 26, 2009 - Barbados' Opposition Leader Mia Mottley is forcing a leadership vote tonight, as she seeks to put to rest speculation about a rift within the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) over who should head it.
There have been reports circulating that some in the party want former Prime Minister Owen Arthur, whom Mottley took over leadership from after the party lost the January 2008 elections, to retake the reigns.
And Mottley, who previously served as Deputy Prime Minister, says she will allow her nine parliamentary colleagues to decide whether she, or anyone else who wants to come forward, should be the one at the wheel.
She made the announcement yesterday at the BLP's 71st annual conference.
"What is bothering us now is not even the people in here but it is the public perception that we are a divided party," Mottley said. "I will put my leadership back before the parliamentary group."
"Others who want to come forward are free to do so," she added.
The BLP leader said she believed this was important if the party wanted to successfully offer itself to the people of Barbados in the next general elections.
"We are half term, we have two more years left...If this party wants to have a genuine chance of success in the next election, then I want to make it clear that we must do so as a united force," Mottley said. "The electorate will not accept a divided party coming before it."
She insisted that whoever came out the winner in the leadership race, the party would have to move forward with a united front.
Mottley also assured that she would remain with the BLP, even if she does not come out on top tonight.
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