Barbadians head to polling booths early
By Felicia Persaud
Barbados
Prime Minister
Owen Arthur
It's official. Barbadians will go to the poll on 21 May, 10 months ahead of the constitutional due date of March, 2004. 6 May will be Nomination Day.
Prime Minister Owen Arthur made the surprise announcement during a speech in the House of Assembly on Friday morning. PM Arthur's statement ended months of speculation on the date of the next poll.
The Prime Minister, speaking to reporters afterward, said he is confident his party, the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), will be returned to office.
He said his administration has completed
its mandate, especially as regards passing legislation on the
CARICOM Single Market and Economy and the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Mr. Arthur predicted that the next election will definitely determine
the future of Barbados. "this election will be like no other
in our history," said the PM. "It will be about the
future of the country," the daily Barbados papers quoted
Arthur as saying.
He added, "My party is better prepared for this election than we have been for the other elections that I have led them into. This election did not take us by surprise. The party is ready and so is the entire society."
Reacting to the announcement, Leader of the Opposition Democratic Labour Party Mr. David Thompson, said, "The government obviously cannot stretch the [election] out any longer. Both the economic and political circumstances make it almost imperative that the Prime Minister calls an election at this time, and the cat was out of the bag a long time ago, so we are looking forward to a challenging campaign and an effective campaign."
And he urged Barbadians to carefully examine the performance of the BLP over the past four years before placing their 'X' on any ballot paper.
Barbados' last general election was held
on 20 January, 1999. The ruling BLP won 26-2.
For this election, it has selected a full complement of 30 candidates
for its parishes while the Opposition DLP is still to name a candidate
for St. Thomas.
An interesting addition to the BLP ticket this year is Mr. Arthur's brother, Mr. Richard Arthur, who will be contesting the St. Lucy seat against DLP candidate Mr. Denis Kellman.