Monday, February 18, 2013

Barbados election: Poll changes very little, says Arthur

Reproduced from the Barbados Advocate 2/18/2013

Owen Arthur is confident, but not over-confident, of a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) win come February 21.

As such, he is not too worried about the latest election poll released yesterday (Sunday) that shows Prime Minister Freundel Stuart leading him 39 per cent to 36 per cent as the preferred PM, according to the voting intentions of the Barbadian respondents.

Speaking during a press conference at the constituency office of the BLP St. James Central candidate Kerrie Symmonds yesterday (SUnday), he said that by his estimation, the now 3.4 per cent overall gap between the two Parties – down from six per cent from September last year – still has the BLP winning 17-13 seats.

“I have been in politics for 28 years now and polls are polls. I will not condemn it but it is our judgment that the poll reflects a worse case scenario that at worse the BLP will win this election at 17-13 and I am not really concerned about what it says about my own standing.”

“The last CADRES poll done in 2008 immediately before the elections showed the DLP ahead, but that David Thompson was behind me and I was the preferred leader. It did not affect the outcome of the poll,” he explained.

The latest development is also a blessing, opined Arthur, as it would serve to help keep the humility of all 30 BLP candidates to a healthy level.

“It is a good thing in some respects as it is going to stop our people from be triumphal. I keep telling them from the platforms that the election is not over as we are contesting this election with a mass-based Party.”

“This poll is effectively cementing Chris Sinckler’s roll in the DLP as the person who is unlikely ever to ascend to leadership. Freundel has really risen in the polls because he has become more active and the party-base is rallying towards him,” he commented before several media personnel.

He added that there are aspects of the polls done in the past, looking at it from a constituency-by-constituency basis, that are strange, for example, the revelation that the BLP’s strongest district in Orange Hill, St. Andrew would be swinging overwhelmingly to the DLP.

“When you get a poll like that, it is an outlier. It is our worse case and if our worse case is 17-13, we can live with that,” he stated.

As such, he noted that it was “sensible” for Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES) Director, Peter Wickham, to commission an additional poll.(EL)

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Jai & Sero

Jai & Sero

Our family at home in Toronto 2008

Our family at home in Toronto 2008
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