Nominations for Barbados Elections 2013
Nomination Day for Barbados Elections was February 6th, 2013 and Totally Barbados has all the details about this key feature of the electoral process.
View the list of nominations for the 2013 Barbados Elections.
The day is set aside for candidates contesting a general election, as well as a by-election, to file all the appropriate documentation entitling them to participate in the poll.
The documents are presented to election officials, who are headed by a Returning Office.
Over 60 candidates, 30 each from the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) and some independents, filed their nomination papers.
They are vying for the 30 parliamentary seats in the Barbados House of Assembly.
The election, scheduled for February 21st, will be the 10th held in Barbados since independence in 1966.
It is, for the most part, a contest between the DLP and BLP, the two political parties which have run the affairs of this country dating back to the 1940s when the BLP was formed. The DLP came about in the 1950’s.
To date, the DLP which formed the government since 2008 has been focusing its attention on reporting its achievements over the past five years.
The BLP has been very critical of the DLP’s handling of the country’s affairs, particularly its economic policies.
To be eligible for nomination, each candidate must present a receipt for the $250 which was paid into the Barbados Treasury, prior to the proceedings. In addition, each candidate has to have a proposer, a seconder, and at least two witnesses.
The proceedings usually last for about 15 minutes to 30 minutes but in the event of discrepancies could be longer.
Nomination day centers were opened between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. and candidates failing to meet that deadline is ineligible to contest the general elections.
The centers are usually secondary/primary schools and several school children viewed the proceedings as candidates and their agents turned up for the occasion.
Apart from their electoral agents and in some instances family members, some candidates arrived with a large placard bearing entourages.
Each placard bears the name and picture of the candidate, party slogan, and colors, red for the BLP and blue and yellow for the DLP. There were no reports of hiccups to the process, suggesting that everything went according to plans.
In the lead-up to the 1991 general election, a candidate from the then ruling party pulled out of the election race very late on nomination day, leading the party to hurriedly round up a replacement who almost missed the 3 p.m. deadline.
Mr. Stuart was nominated at Graydon Sealy Secondary school in the St. Michael South Constituency, which he represented in Parliament.
The leader of the BLP and former Prime Minister Owen Arthur handed in his nomination papers at Roland Edwards Primary school in St. Peter, a constituency which he has represented dating back to 1984.
With politicians using every available opportunity to make a case for election/re-election the occasion of nomination days allows the candidates and their party leaders to recommit their policies to the public.
This was very evident from the speeches and brief presentations by the candidates following their nomination.
The candidates have also indicated that they will be stepping up their campaign for the election.
More house to house canvassing, the tradition mass meetings, and spot meetings, will be a feature of the campaign from here on.
View the list of nominations for the 2013 Barbados Elections.
Article by: Brett Callaghan
Additional Information:
February 7th, 2013
