On the 26 January 2008 BU posted the following blog in response to questions about voting irregularities reported in Deacons on election day, the constituency of St. Michael North West seat was contested between Chris Sinckler and Clyde Mascoll. Sinckler won by 340 votes.
Activities In The Farm On Election Day
Posted on January 26, 2008 by David | 68 comments
We will write this slowly and very carefully. We confirm that the pictures above were taken on January 15, 2008. What this tells us is that the activities captured on the images above took place on election day 2008 in … Continue reading →
In 2013 questions were again raised by many who witnessed voting irregularities, among the witnesses were Prime Minister Freundel Stuart who made reference to what he saw in his victory speech. Attorney General Adriel Braithwaite at his swearing in ceremony on the 23 February 2013 was quoted in the press, “There are a few things that happened during the course of the campaign that concerned me and we need to look and ensure that we don’t go in the wrong direction as a people”
Fast forward to the Mark Williams/Leron Gibbs vote buying debate currently being waged on afternoon talk radio. Both players – who should know – admit that vote buying is a reality in Barbados. Leron Gibbs is an interesting character, he is one of the deep pockets, like Bizzy, who is well known by the politicos in Barbados for funding political polls and political candidates and has access to the political directorate on demand. Whether he abuses the privilege his deep pockets affords him BU will leave others to comment. Surely his story about funding tickets to support political candidates on the hustings was a ‘farfetched’ hypothetical inventive and as far removed from reality as Lucifer is from heaven.
The excuse offered by some against government allocating resources to support campaign financing because of lack of resources BU finds unacceptable and alarming. The entrenched corrupt practice of shadows with access to cash being able to influence the outcome of an election has serious implication for the quality of governance in Barbados. The government must intervene anytime there is the opportunity to prevent the money class from running amok by undermining the electoral system. We operate in a democracy.
The call for campaign financing (and transparency legislation) is not new, many political commentators have been asking the Barbados and Democratic Labour party to proclaim the legislation in the last twenty years. But who will bell the cat. The majority of Barbadians go about their daily business oblivious to how the system is manipulated by a few with money. Bizzy Williams recently provided insight into the practice and this week Leron Gibbs and Mark Williams confirmed it. In the days and weeks ahead public reaction and concern for civics by Barbadians will be sadly exposed. We are a country labelled as educated but lacking in intelligence about executing our duties and rights afforded to us under a democracy.
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