Commentary: Thursday is polling day in Antigua and Barbuda
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| Published on Thursday, March 12, 2009 |
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By Oscar Ramjeet
Voters in the twin island state of Antigua and Barbuda will go to the polls on Thursday to elect a new government.
During the past three months -- long before the election date was announced -- candidates from the two main political parties, as well as independents, began their campaign.
The electioneering has been intense and it is difficult to predict whether the incumbent United Progressive Party (UPP), under the leadership of Baldwin Spencer, will return to office, although Barbadian pollster Peter Wickham has predicted a UPP victory.
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| Oscar Ramjeet is an attorney at law who practices extensively throughout the wider Caribbean. He is also a special correspondent for Caribbean Net News. Feedback to: oscar@caribbeannetnews.com |
The UPP, a merger of three political parties -- Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement, the Progressive Labour Movement and the United National Democratic Party -- formed the government in March 2004 after it whipped Lester Bird's Antigua Labour Party (ALP), which had been in office for 28 years, by a whopping 12-4 margin. Even the ALP leader Lester Bird, who was prime minister, lost his seat.
Despite the UPP’s overwhelming victory of 12 seats, it polled only 55.3 percent of the voters, while the ALP got only four seats with 41.8 percent.
The ALP has been known as the political arm of the Bird family since the party founder, Vere Bird, Snr., had been power for four decades, except for one term in the 1970s.
Lester Bird was 71 years on February 21 last and he has already announced that, if his party loses, he will resign from politics and if the ALP regains power he will serve for a couple of years and hand over the leadership to Gaston Browne, who is now the deputy leader.
When Bird quits, it will be the first time in the history of the ALP that its leader will not be a member of the Bird family.
The campaign has been intense, and there has been a lot of mudslinging from both sides, including allegations and counter allegations of corruption.
A few months ago the ALP was targeting its attack on crime and its effect on tourism, but now the economy has taken centre stage, with fraud allegations against Texan financier Allen Stanford in the mix.
Stanford went to Antigua more than 20 years ago under the Bird administration and was involved in a wide range of business ventures, comprising financial services, banking, media, airline operations and a host of other enterprises, including his plans to develop Guiana Island into a billion-dollar resort.
The Texan, who was knighted by the Antigua government for his entrepreneurship, was heavily involved in cricket. He spent millions of dollars in promoting the sport throughout the Caribbean islands. His lavish sponsorship of the Twenty/20 regional competition certain served the region well, not to mention his $20 million annual competition between England and a Stanford Superstars XI.
Besides the government, Stanford groups are the main employers in the country and the new government will be saddled with the responsibility of dealing with the Stanford fiasco in order to secure employment for the hundreds of workers.
Observers from the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are in Antigua to observe the elections to ensure that it is conducted freely and fairly.
The two main parties used various methods of campaigning, including house to house, public meetings, and even entertainment.
Last Saturday night, the ALP hosted a Unity Concert, which featured top local and international artistes, including Grammy Award winning R&B singer Joe, Shaggy and Buju Banton, while the incumbent UPP opted for top gospel artistes, including Grammy Award singer Shirley Caesar, the Grace Thrillers and the Blind Boys of Alabama for its Adoration Concert held at the Antigua Recreation Ground, in St John’s.
Both parties are spending a fortune -- their manifestos were printed in attractive, glossy paper with coloured photographs. They are not cutting corners and are going all out to win.
Forty candidates are vying for the 17 seats in the twin island state. The campaign is hot and up to Wednesday mudslinging was in full swing -- statements and counter statements -- some of them even defamatory.
As I have said before, the tussle is keen and no one knows which party will form the government, We will have to wait until late Thursday night to know this and of course the celebrations will begin,
Regardless of which party wins, I have no doubt that Friday will be declared a public holiday. | | | | Reads : 1230 | | | |
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