All eyes will be on the sister isle today, as electors there vote for the persons who will take charge of their affairs for the next couple of years in the Barbuda Council elections.
Ten candidates will be hoping they have done enough to secure the required votes in their favour – four from both the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) and the incumbent Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM), as well as two independent candidates.
Representing the ABLP are Bentham Lewis, Mackeisha Desouza, Orlando Morris and Zaria Nedd, while the BPM’s nominated candidates are Devon Warner, Fitzroy Warner, John Mussington and Sharima Deazle-Myers.
Jurmaine Joyce and Ordrick Samuel round out the nominated slate as independent candidates.
The BPM is looking to maintain control of the Council, having done so now for a number of years, and its candidates – including first-timers, Mussington and Warner – are confident that it will be a victory for their party.
The ABLP is, as usual, similarly confident in upsetting the applecart, but it remains to be seen whether the party can soften the attitudes of Barbudans toward it, after years of contention.
It is safe to say that a large majority of the native Barbudans residing there are not very fond of the Gaston Browne-led ABLP, due to issues including the controversial Barbuda Land Act decision and the equally contentious Peace, Love and Happiness (PLH) project.
Last year, the Privy Council made a ruling in the government’s favour in the long-running legal fight between Barbudans who maintain lands on Barbuda are owned in common and central government which claims they are the property of the Crown.
This decision was disappointing for many Barbudans and paves the way for the government to move forward with its intention to sell lands on the sister isle.
The perceived environmental impact of the PLH development on the island is another major issue heading into today’s elections, with Barbudans staging several protests against the government-approved-and-promoted project.
Whether these issues will continue to haunt the ABLP’s political chances on the sister isle – its candidate Knacyntar Nedd-Charles recently lost to BPM incumbent Trevor Walker by 456 votes to 624 in January’s general elections – is up for debate, but the sentiment on the ground is that the status quo will remain.
Ballots in the Barbuda Council elections will be cast at the Holy Trinity Primary School, and the results are expected late Wednesday night.