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.
