THE PEOPLE of Antigua and Barbuda on Tuesday voted to change their government. They peacefully carried out a major change for a country which has had the same Antigua Labour Party (ALP) governing them since their independence in 1981.
In effect the change marked the end of a dynasty in that the Prime Minister who was voted out, Lester Bird, succeeded his father Vere Bird in that post. The ALP became the majority party in 1951 beginning a long history of electoral victories before being voted out of office in 1971. But it was swept back into office in 1976 and the party has won renewed mandates until Tuesday's election.
Antigua has parallels with Jamaica's political development in that V.C. Bird, now deceased, came to prominence as a result of the development of Antigua's labour movement in the 1940s. He played a pivotal role in his country's history until 1994, when Lester Bird took over as Prime Minister.
The size of Hanover with a population just a bit bigger, at 75,000, Antigua and Barbuda has done well under the rule of the ALP. The country is one of the most prosperous in CARICOM, with a per capita income of US$9,700, over three times the level of Jamaica.
But that prosperity has been beset by some major challenges. The fallout in world tourism following the September 11, 2001 terror attack in the United States dealt their important tourism industry a severe blow. Its financial services sector has also been impacted by tighter monitoring from the developed countries.
Against this background of economic difficulties, the ALP government became mired in scandal. Lester Bird's reputation was hurt by allegations of bribery, misuse of funds in the national health insurance plan and a 13-year-old girl's charges of improper behaviour and drug use.
The then Opposition Leader, Baldwin Spencer, hammered home his attacks on the government, promising that his United Progressive Party would rein in Antigua's endemic corruption.
Located close to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, Antigua
and Barbuda, like Jamaica, is grappling with the problem of narcotics transshipment.
The new Prime Minister is due to take over from our own P.J. Patterson as chairman of CARICOM a daunting prospect to combine with taking charge of a new administration.
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