Owen Arthur

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Owen Seymour Arthur Template:Post-nominals (17 October 1949Template:Spnd27 July 2020)<ref name="from">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="today">Template:Cite web</ref> was a Barbadian politician who served as the fifth prime minister of Barbados from 6 September 1994 to 15 January 2008. He is the longest-serving Barbadian prime minister to date.<ref name="today"/> He also served as Leader of the Opposition from 1 August 1993 to 6 September 1994 and from 23 October 2010 to 21 February 2013.

Arthur was a firm advocate for regional integration and cooperation among the countries of the Caribbean.<ref name="regionalist">Template:Cite web</ref> He was described by CARICOM as the chief architect of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He argued in favour of making the Caribbean Court of Justice the final court of appeal for countries of the Caribbean,<ref name="regionalist"/> and he advocated for the University of the West Indies<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> regional airline LIAT,<ref name="liat">Template:Cite web</ref> and projection of resistance against infringement on sovereignty by large nations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and education

Arthur studied at All Saints Boys’ School, Coleridge and Parry Boys' School, and Harrison College.<ref name="from"/> He earned a BA degree in economics and history in 1971 at the University of the West Indies – Cave Hill, Barbados, and an MSc degree in economics in 1974 at the University of the West Indies – Mona, Jamaica.<ref name="sympathy">Template:Cite web</ref> After graduating, he joined Jamaica's National Planning Agency as an Assistant Economic Planner<ref name="sympathy"/> and later served as Director of Economics at the Jamaica Bauxite Institute between 1979 and 1981.<ref name="from"/> In 1981, he returned to Barbados and worked for the Barbadian Ministry of Finance and Planning (1981–1983, 1985–1986) and also served as a Research Fellow at the UWI's Institute of Social and Economics Research [now the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES)] from 1983 to 1985.<ref name="sympathy"/>

Political career

Member of Parliament

Arthur was appointed to the Senate of Barbados in 1983, and won a by-election to the House of Assembly in 1984 for the constituency of Saint Peter.<ref name="from"/> In 1985 he was appointed to be parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, a position he held until 1986.<ref name="PPP">Template:Cite book</ref> Arthur served concurrently as a part-time lecturer in management at UWI Cave Hill until he was chosen to be the leader of the Barbados Labour Party in 1993, making him the parliamentary Leader of the Opposition.<ref name="sympathy"/>

Fifth Prime Minister of Barbados (1994–2008)

Arthur with U.S. President George W. Bush, 12 January 2004

In September 1994, the Labour Party won the general elections, making Arthur Prime Minister. He also acted as Minister of National Security, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Information, and appointed four female ministers, including all three female BLP MPs.<ref name="PPP"/> The youngest of the four, 29 year-old Mia Mottley, eventually succeeded him as party leader in 2008 and was elected Prime Minister in 2018.

In 1995, Arthur devised the formation of a parliamentary law reform commission led by Henry Forde to advise on constitutional and institutional reform of Barbados Government.,<ref name=PPP/> and Arthur would also that year become appointed a Privy Counsellor, giving him the title of "Right Honourable."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As part of Arthur government's agenda he dedicated much of his work as Prime Minister towards advancing Caribbean regional integration, including by spearheading the creation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy in 2001 with the signing of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.<ref name="CARICOM">Template:Cite news</ref>

Arthur sought for Barbados to host several international community events including the UN Global Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which led to the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, also referred to as the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA),<ref>Barbados Program of Action</ref> and further served as a principle negotiator in the 1997 Partnership for Prosperity and Security in the Caribbean also known as the "Bridgetown Declaration" between the West Indian nations and the United States.<ref>VIDEO: Barbados - Summit with leaders from Caribbean</ref>

After completing a popular first term, the BLP won a record-breaking 26 of 28 seats in the 1999 general election. A national plan for beautification of major business and community centres including Bridgetown, Holetown, Oistins, Speightstown, Warrens, and Wildey were devised and put into motion along with plans to greatly liberalise the Barbados economy and expand cultural industries. Plans for Double Taxation Agreements to spur international financial sector trade linkages, and for airport and seaport modernisation were also a focus.

The BLP kept a dominant majority by winning 23 of 28 seats in the 2003 general election, ensuring him a third term.<ref name="from" /> A prominent plank of Arthur's platform for the 2003 elections was his promise to transform the country into a parliamentary republic, replacing Queen Elizabeth II with a Barbadian President as Head of State. Arthur planned to hold a national referendum on this proposition in 2005.<ref name="cnn_republic">Template:Cite web</ref>

However, this timeline was pushed back due to other pressing developments, such as the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and leading complex and difficult negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the CARIFORUM- and European Union bloc of countries along with the resulting joint Parliament.<ref>ADDRESS BY THE RT. HON. OWEN ARTHUR PRIME MINISTER OF BARBADOS AT THE OPENING OF THE 12TH ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY, NOVEMBER 20, 2006</ref><ref>P.M. ARTHUR SHARES VIEWS ON EPA</ref>

Closer to home, Arthur took genuine interest in advancing plans for the regional hosting of the Cricket World Cup 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 18 June 2007, Arthur gave an address at the U.S. Library of Congress to American and CARICOM country officials that outlined his plan for the CSME.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 25 March 2007, on the bicentennial anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire, Parliament passed a resolution acknowledging that slavery was a crime against humanity. On this occasion, Arthur expressed support for slavery reparations; he felt that educational exchanges and technology transfers would be more appropriate than financial payments.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Leader of Opposition

In the general election held on 15 January 2008, the Barbados Labour Party was defeated by the Democratic Labour Party, winning ten seats against 20 for the DLP. DLP Chairman David Thompson was sworn in as prime minister on 16 January, succeeding Arthur.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Despite the party's defeat, Arthur was re-elected to his own seat from St. Peter constituency with 65% of the vote.<ref>Election result page for St. Peter constituency Template:Webarchive.</ref> He also maintained that he could still contribute to CARICOM.<ref>"Arthur: Still a role for me" Template:Webarchive, nationnews.com, 18 January 2008.</ref> On 19 January, Arthur stepped down as BLP leader, saying that an immediate leadership transition would be in the best interests of both the party and Barbadian democracy; former Deputy Prime Minister Mia Mottley was elected as the new party leader over former Attorney-General of Barbados Dale Marshall. Arthur said that he intended to serve out his parliamentary term.<ref>Trevor Yearwood, "Mia takes over" Template:Webarchive, nationnews.com, 20 January 2008.</ref>

In 2010, Arthur was given a vote of confidence by four of his parliamentary colleagues to return as Leader of the BLP after they expressed dissatisfaction with Mottley. A Barbados Labour Party leadership election was held on 16 October 2010 and Arthur defeated Mottley. Arthur was sworn in as Barbados' new Opposition Leader on 18 October 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In the February 2013 general election, the BLP was narrowly defeated, obtaining 14 seats against 16 for the DLP. Arthur was re-elected to his seat. A few days after the election, on 26 February 2013, the BLP parliamentary group held a leadership election and elected Mottley as Leader of the Opposition, replacing Arthur. According to the party, Arthur was not present at the election in order to "give the members of the parliamentary grouping the freedom to choose the future of the Barbados Labour Party".<ref>"Mottley replaces Arthur as opposition leader in Barbados" Template:Webarchive, Caribbean360, 26 February 2013.</ref>

On 25 July 2014, Arthur submitted his resignation from the Barbados Labour Party, citing disagreements with Mottley, and served the rest of his term as an independent M.P.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He did not stand in the 2018 Barbadian general election, and BLP member Colin Jordan was elected as the new M.P. for Saint Peter.<ref name="elections">Template:Cite web</ref> After leaving the House of Assembly, Arthur retired from politics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Later career

Arthur was appointed professor of practice in Economics of Development at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, on 1 November 2018. He was the third professor of practice at the UWI Cave Hill Campus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In January 2020, Arthur was appointed as Chairman of regional airline LIAT to supervise its financial recovery. He had been a staunch supporter of LIAT during his premiership.<ref name="liat"/>

Arthur was Chairman of the Commonwealth Observer Group during the 2020 Guyanese general election; he confirmed that the election had been orderly.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He later criticized the incumbent APNU+AFC alliance for their months-long attempts to delay finalizing the election results.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Death

Arthur was hospitalized with heart complications in July 2020. He died in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown at 12:26 a.m on 27 July.<ref name="today"/> The late prime minister was accorded a state funeral through which he was brought to the Barbados House of Assembly to lay in state from August 12–13.<ref>BARBADOS TODAY EVENING UPDATE - August 12, 2020, Barbados Today</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tributes followed from peers across the Americas and also from Commonwealth Secretary-General, The Baroness Scotland of Asthal.<ref>Template:YouTube</ref>

Honours and awards

Arthur was a 1999 recipient of the Order of José Martí of Cuba.<ref name="wilberforce">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

See also

• Politics of Barbados

References

• Template:Britannica
• Biography of Owen Seymour Arthur Template:Webarchive, Caribbean Elections
• Owen Arthur, Archive of the Caribbean Community
• Profile of Barbados (2007), CARICOM

External links

• Template:Officialwebsite
• The Prime Minister of Barbados – Archive
• Various Speeches made by Owen Arthur – BLP website
• Some speeches made by Owen Arthur – The Barbados Government Information Service website
• Profile of Owen Arthur – Barbados government portal
• Owen Arthur, Getty Images