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Leader of the opposition in Barbados, David Thompson, wants to become the first prime minister in that island's political history to introduce integrity legislation that would govern the actions of his Cabinet ministers.

While both political parties have mooted the need for a wide-ranging set of legislation promoting transparency and public accountability for government and its political figures, the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) leader has revealed that his team has taken the proactive step of already drafting such legislation.

Speaking from the party platform this past Monday (January 7, 2008), Thompson pledged that his party would make the promise of such legislation a reality within the first 100 days of the DLP assuming office, should they win the general election called for next Tuesday (January 15, 2008).

"There is so much that has gone on in this country and I get the impression that that is how politicians should act, or that is how all of them act so it's nothing to talk about or deal with, but I don't believe that. And that is why the Democratic Labour Party, a week ago, brought forward a draft integrity legislation bill to be laid in the House of Assembly within the first 100 days of us assuming office, along with a freedom of information bill that would give you, the citizens, the right to request information from any Government department on matters that concern you and affect you, as well as a code of conduct for ministers of Government," Thompson said while addressing a mass meeting held in Hoyte's Village in the constituency of St James Central on Monday night.

Thompson, who is currently at the center of accusations by Barbados Labour Party leader Owen Arthur that his party is receiving campaign funds from rogue state the People's Republic of China in Taiwan - a charge which he has strongly refuted - also pledged that before any of the DLP's candidates could assume office in any Cabinet he led, they would have to sign a code of conduct first. Included in this code, he said, would be provisions for Cabinet members to declare their assets. "The citizens of Barbados have a right to know.... Questions can be asked about the personal wealth of ministers, it happens anywhere in the world," he said.

So far Barbados has lagged behind a number of its Caribbean neighbours in passing such legislation.

As far back as 1987, Trinidad and Tobago introduced an Integrity in Public Life Act, which was amended in 2000 to provide even greater accountability.

In 1997, St Lucia introduced legislation requiring government ministers, ministers of parliament, and senior civil servants to declare their assets publicly, making it the fifth Caribbean nation to adopt a form of integrity legislation. In 2002, The Integrity in Public Life Act replaced that 1997 Integrity Commission Act. It broadened the scope of the original law by making corruption a crime, defining what constitutes corruption, establishing specific deterrents, and prescribing tough penalties for violations. Jamaica passed theirs in 2000. In October 2004, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda enacted a trilogy of integrity legislation made up of the Integrity in Public Life Act, the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Freedom of Information Act. St Vincent and the Grenadines introduced a motion in February 2007 to enact such legislation.