Who Will Win The Next General Election In Barbados? ~ Peter Wickham (CADRES POLLSTER) To Reveal The Answer…

Posted on October 13, 2007 by | 70 Comments

 

Caribbean political analyst Peter Wickham noted, however, that in a situation where the PNP is leading by a statistically insignificant five percentage points, a long campaign could come back to haunt Miller. “By calling an early election, by setting the date seven weeks away, she has effectively surrendered one of the most effective tools in the arsenal of the Westminster PM,” he continued, referring to the fact that the British system, which many Caribbean countries have adopted, allows the prime minister alone to name the date for a general election.

Source: The BostonBanner

peter_wickham_small_potrait Many people agree that the next general election in Barbados will be hotly contested for a number of reasons. We have a fourth term government which has been embroiled in one controversy after the next. There is Prime Minister Owen Arthur whose popularity has been on the decline in recent years; this drop in Arthur’s popularity is not good news for the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). Many of the BLP candidates owe a deep debt of gratitude to Arthur for their elevation to the Lower House and on becoming vested after 10 years to qualify for a government pension.

Many political pundits agree that there is always a tiredness which will visit fourth term governments.

Recently, Peter Wickham, political scientist and the brains behind CADRES, has been under severe public scrutiny because of his controversial comments. Let BU add that we commend Peter for not being timid, like some of his colleagues, about making his views known. However, we do agree with those who have formed the impression that Peter’s perspectives often appear to have a DLP bias. Having said that, we have to congratulate Peter on the accuracy of his polls to date. We were particularly proud of the comment which we have quoted above which turned out to be true about the outcome of the recent Jamaican election. As far as we can recollect, his polls have always been on the bulls-eye with the exception of the St. Lucia poll which we are prepared to accept was done at a time which would have made it difficult to accurately predict the outcome. Even if BU accept CADRES got it wrong, one out of several is not a bad record.

What does the future hold for the DLP and BLP?

Tomorrow (14 October 2007) the CADRES POLL will be published by the Nation Newspaper, its sponsor. There will be a discussion on Voice of Barbados (VOB) Sunday call-in morning program on the hot issues which pervade the political scene in Barbados. Tomorrow may well prove to be the ‘tipping point’ which determines the party to take the upper hand in the minds of electorate of Barbados. On this point, we have always had a concern about the influence which a poll can have on a voting population on the eve of any election. We have time for the view that a poll which is strategically crafted can greatly influence public opinion. We want to make this point because of our earlier observation that Peter has espoused strong anti-government rhetoric when he has had occasion to host several call-in programs in recent years. His obvious disgust with Clyde Mascoll has been a topic thoroughly discussed in Barbados.

BU household will be at church

Unfortunately, the BU household will be at church tomorrow at the time the VOB call-in program will be broadcasting.  We will have to rely on feedback to ascertain what transpired.  We get the feeling that the Democratic Labour Party has been slowly creating momentum, and they have gathered some steam with the breaking of the Hardwood story.  We think that they should be doing the same concerning the mismanagement of the flyover project. We have published previous stories about the political savvy of Prime Minister Owen Arthur.  There is a saying that one should not be in close proximity to a wounded tiger. We sense that the Prime Minister and his cohorts have engaged in defensive maneuvers for too long. With the election constitutionally due in less than a year they MUST go on the offensive in the near future.

Previous BU Stories

Prime Minister Arthur The Master Of Spin~Does Anyone Feel Dizzy?

David Thompson~Are You Ready?

 

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70 responses to “Who Will Win The Next General Election In Barbados? ~ Peter Wickham (CADRES POLLSTER) To Reveal The Answer…”

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  9. Qaasen Ricardo Sealy | November 17, 2010 at 12:45 PM |

    I represented Barbados and competed in the Eight China ZhengZhou International Shaolin Wushu Festival. It was held in Zhengzhou, China. I won two silver medals. One for Taiji Quan (Tai Chi) and one for Yong Chun Quan ( Wing Chun). The event was organised by the Chinese Wushu Association., and the Zhengzhou Sports Bureau Municipal Government.

    In addition to the martial arts competition, which held a grand opening music ceremony, I visited the largest Shaolin Temple in China, where I saw a wall Muriel of monks who looked like the average Barbadian practicing with Chinese monks over 1000 years ago, the ZhengZhou Museum and Ancient Shang Dynasty Relics. Also, I viewed Chinese health culture practices first hand.
    I have about 4 hours video footage and digital photos of my visit. 2430-15 ( mobile)

  10. checkit-out | November 17, 2010 at 1:48 PM |

    Qaasen Ricardo Sealy; You said “I visited the largest Shaolin Temple in China, where I saw a wall Muriel of monks who looked like the average Barbadian practicing with Chinese monks over 1000 years ago”

    Could you publish any pictures you might have of these monks who look like the average Barbadians or point us to how we can get sight of them? It might be some more evidence of the spread of the black african throughout the world and all the ancient cultures.

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