Forty candidates nominated for Antigua- Barbuda election

Sunday, March 7, 2004

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua: According to officials at the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission, a total of 40 candidates including six independents, have registered during nomination day on Thursday to vie for the 17 parliamentary seats to represent the 80,000-plus population in the March 23 general election.

Polls conducted here recently have produced an unclear picture of what is turning out to be mainly a two-party race between the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) and the United Progressive Party (UPP).

One poll conducted by the Antigua-based CASURO organization has the UPP defeating the ALP while another shows the ALP as the victor, yet one other says the race is too close to call. The ALP won 12 seats in the last election held in 1999. 

However, Prime Minister Lester Bird, who last year successfully fought off mounting pressure amid political infighting in the party which resulted in the removal of three of his MPs from office, remains confident that the ALP will be returned to office. He became Prime Minister in 1994.

All candidates have signed a seven-point Code of Conduct (COC), which is designed to give some guidance to all politicians regarding their conduct during the run-up to, and after the elections should they win.

The code requires that they refrain from such things as bribery, character assassination and false promises, to name a few.

Two weeks ago the ALP created history in the country and the region when the party's executive called on all its candidates to sign and adhere to a stringent 14 point COC.

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