IT HAS CAUGHT ME by surprise that the director of Caribbean Research Development Services and former university lecturer Peter Wickham, is of the opinion that a third party has no chance of political success in upcoming elections in Barbados.
If Wickham’s opinion is based on any polls he has done, he is entitled to his own interpretation of the data collected.
However, given the fact that so many modern-day academics and intellectuals emphasise the need and necessity for change in today’s world, one would have thought that a call would have been made for a third or possible fourth political party with fresh characters and personalities entering the fray.
Barbados and other Caribbean islands have long endured the time-worn and hackneyed two-party system where, in many instances, choice of candidates is limited and often compromised, leading to low numbers at the polls.
One would have thought that people the likes of Wickham, would have been fully supportive of a freshness and difference in giving the electorate a wider choice and at the same time an opportunity to elect representatives outside the traditional professional class.
If polls and opinions are anything to go by, then maybe Caribbean people enjoy voting for one party or the other without any other possible alternatives.
– Michael Ray