In this newsletter:
€ Election results.
€ Priscilla Looby at Island Arts
Election results.
Those of you who followed the general election via http://antiguaelection99.com will already know that the Antigua Labour Party won. At first glance it looks like a resounding victory with Labour returning with one extra seat, (11 seats for Labour, 5 for UPP, and one for the BPM independent in Barbuda). But on closer examination it's clear that the race was much closer than you might think. The election pivoted around four key constituencies that finally decided who would rule Antigua through to the year 2004.
In
St. Mary's North,
Labour won by 104 votes. In
All Saints West
they won by 131 votes. In
St. John's City
West the margin was 139 votes and in
St. Phillips
South they won the seat from UPP by a slim 8 votes! Incredibly,
Labour's victory comes down to 382 votes!
If UPP had gained those seats they would have had 9 and Labour would have only held 7!
Even more incredible is that if they had won just three of those seats (243 votes) each party would have held 8 seats and the country would have been ruled by the one swing vote.... Thomas Hilbourne Frank from Barbuda. I'm sure the Barbuda Council would have loved that.
These were far from the sole fringe constituencies. In St. John's Rural North the margin was 172 votes (Labour) and in St. Mary's South it was 165 votes (UPP).
When considering politics in Antigua and Barbuda you have to realize that the whole nation comprises a community about 1% of the size of a city like London or New York. Such a small community can't support the taxes required to sustain it's own infrastructure and without an overriding authority (such as a federal government) to subsidize spending, normally accepted practices and procedures are unsustainable. Comparisons are often made with standard procedures in big countries which are not really applicable and as such are unfair. Issues tend to be very localized and popular discussion revolves around the economy, protectionism and accountability. All in all it seems to have more in common with the election of a town council than with most state authorities.
Having said all that, the consequence of these circumstances is that the lack of income for social structure results in a level of deregulated freedom that as pleasing as it is rare. There are few enforceable rules so we walk where we want, park where we want (most times), sail where we want and generally don't work any harder than we need to. This may sometimes result in apparent economic hardship, but generally our existence provides MUCH more liberty than in regular societies. We experience very little stress and pay no income tax and though we may complain a lot, few of us would queue up to adopt the anxieties of living in a modern "successful" society.
Considering all the hype leading up to election day, it passed in a very quiet and civilized manor and put to rest outlandish rumors that violence was immanent. Even without the regular facilities to adequately implement the restriction of behavior, the people of Antigua and Barbuda are generally very socially responsible and crime, though on the increase, is very low in comparison with most nations. In fact there was more passion involved in early discussions concerning who was going to put what political poster where, than was ever apparent on voting day.
http://antiguaelection99.com supplied a nicely presented and very informative site, though considering that it was provided by Cable and Wireless, Antigua's sole internet Provider it was VERY, VERY slow. Almost every page was made up of 20 to 30 images and once the server got busy you could fall asleep waiting for a page to load. For those of you who couldn't wait and just gave up, the key page can be found at http://www.antiguaelections99.com/results/summary_graphs.asp . It provides excellent graph results for each constituency.
We thank http://antiguaelection99.com for their efforts because slow or not they provided a valuable source of information that I am sure was well appreciated. These graphs St. Mary's North, All Saints West, St. John's City West, St. Phillips South, originate from their site and we hope that you will visit them to see the rest of what they have to offer.
Since gaining power ALP have been sworn into office with some unexpected ministerial reshuffling. Errol Cort has been appointed Attorney General. Bernard Percival has been appointed Minister of Health. Molwyn Joseph has been appointed Minister of Tourism. Cutie Benjamin has been appointed Minister of Labour.
The National Reform Movement produced some well sized billboards for the election, big enough to be seen but not so big that they obliterated the view. They were expected to emerge as a political force in this election but for some reason only contested one seat. They gained 11 votes.
Several independents also ran including previous parliamentarians Hugh C Marshall Snr. and Donald Halstead but this was primarily a two party race and none but Barbuda's Thomas Hilbourne Frank won a seat.
I'm sure that discussions on the subject will pervade political hang outs, church socials, BBQ's, bars, and boardrooms for many years to come.
Priscilla Looby at Island Arts
It's that time again.... hammer, tacks and nylon are rapidly at work, canvases are stretched and frames suspended as we prepare for our next exhibition at Island Arts. This season's exhibitions have been very well received. In fact Caribscope are visiting Aiton Place next Tuesday to feature the current Yolanda Woodberry show. I am trusting that our next show will prove to be popular too as, on March 27th, we open our doors for the second solo show by Priscilla Looby, Antigua's foremost naive artist.
Priscilla's work reflects life in the small, but vibrant villages of Antigua's South East communities. The naive charm of her work clearly reflects the influence of Lou Cottage who, through the art center at English Harbour, guided Priscilla through the early years of her artistic development.
Churches and chickens, bars and breadfruit, sailboats and sunshine... all combine as Priscilla's brush strokes clearly express her pride and understanding of the colorful land and people that make up her home environment.
You can find out more about Priscilla via our exhibitions web page at http://CineSecrets.com/IslandArts/exhibitions ...... a permanent archive about artists who have been in exhibition at Island Arts Galleries (since Jan 99)
That's all for today. See you in Antigua...............
regards
Nick
