FLYING FISH & COU COU: Who footing political bills?

PREPARATIONS FOR THE mother of all local political battles seem to be gathering pace.

Indications to date suggest the upcoming general elections, constitutionally due after February 2018, will witness the largest number of candidates ever to contest the 30 seats available in the House of Assembly.

Seven political parties, the most in living memory, have already indicated they will be in the fight. 

For certain, the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and the official opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) will field 30 candidates each. It is not clear if the People’s Empowerment Party (PEP) will contest each seat, but its leader David Comissiong said last year that his organisation will be in the fray.

How prepared each of the three new parties – Solutions Barbados, Barbados Integrity Movement (BIM) and the United Progressive Party (UPP) – will be to contest the poll is anybody’s guess, but already Solutions Barbados has indicated they have identified 15 candidates and are looking for 15 others.

As for the People’s Democratic Congress (PDC), that party has never fielded a full slate in any poll, but is expected to be ably represented. 

What concerns Cou Cou about all of this is who will be funding each of these parties. Everyone involved with elections through the years has related how expensive an undertaking it is. That’s why Cou Cou can’t help but query where the money will be coming from to ensure each of these candidates can campaign effectively.

Specifically, Cou Cou wants to know how and from whom each party will get the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to pay for advertising, mounting platforms, printing literature like pamphlets and manifestos, producing T-shirts, feeding campaign volunteers daily for at least three weeks before the poll and on polling day, and providing transportation for voters to get to the polls on election day.

Then there are the high legal costs to pay attorneys to vet speeches and advise candidates on what they can and cannot say on the political platform, and to have attorneys to advise on disputed votes.

We wouldn’t hold our breath waiting for an answer though, as in Barbados such questions are never acknowledged by the major political parties. That’s why Barbados needs greater scrutiny of campaign financing.

Keeping workers happy

FIVE YOUNG WOMEN recently got a free vacation in Miami out of a leading politico.

Cou Cou overheard that the politico, who fancies himself as a ladies man, sent the five to Miami primarily to purchase cellphones and other electronic equipment to use in the upcoming elections.

Reports are that the cellphones are the disposable type to be discarded after a week’s use. That way, their users can better maintain the integrity of their communications network from possible eavesdroppers.

The women, who are this politico’s most ardent supporters, were reportedly also given enough funds to buy clothes for themselves to work in for the upcoming general elections. Talk what you like about this politico, but at least he knows how to treat his workers right.

Who will replace governor?

THE QUESTION ON many people’s minds is who will replace Central Bank Governor Dr DeLisle Worrell?

Already a number of names are being bandied around on Facebook as possible replacements. The two most discussed are Jepter Ince, the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Finance, and Darcy Boyce, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office.

While many have scoffed at the idea of Ince, they are not too opposed to Boyce as he was once a deputy governor at the bank. Cou Cou, too, is intrigued and can’t wait to see who will get the nod.