BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – The main opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has launched its campaign for the February 21 general elections promising voters strong leadership to deal with the island’s socio-economic problems over the next five years.

BLP leader and former Prime Minister Owen Arthur Saturday night told party faithful that he was offering “a leadership that has been tried, leadership that has been tested and leadership that has been proven”.

The BLP, which lost the 2008 general elections to the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), and seeking to regain control of the 30-seat Parliament, said it is promising a “Campaign for a Better Tomorrow”.

He told the huge crowd gathered in St. Michael that “leadership matters" as he reminded them of the BLP’s stewardship during its 14 year term in power.

"We managed to do a lot with a little. We didn't have gold, we didn't have oil, we didn't have bauxite, but we made Barbados a great little country because we always had strong leaders," he told supporters, adding that "there has been no time in our country's development where leadership matters more than now”.

Arthur said Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had failed the test of leadership adding, "I know how to make decisions”.