September 11 General Elections in Montserrat
Five years and three days later Montserrat will see voters in this volcano-ravaged British Overseas Territory go to the polls on September 11, 2014 to elect a new government, Ag. Governor Alric Taylor announced last Friday.
He said Nomination Day will be August 25 and that the Legislative Assembly has been dissolved that day Friday, August 15.
The Ag. Governor said that the chairman of the Electoral Commission, Sir Howard Fergus, will serve as Supervisor of Elections, with Claudette Weekes as Returning Officer.
Both, “have performed in the roles of Supervisor of Elections and Returning Officer on previous occasions and they bring considerable knowledge and expertise to their roles,” Taylor said in a radio broadcast.
In differing circumstances with Ministers being dismissed back in June 2009, the announcement of the elections date, came as a surprise when then Chief Minister Dr. Lowell Lewis asked the Governor to pro-rogue parliament thereafter dissolved. The CM’s request was made on June 12.
Nine seats are at stake in the polls and the ruling Movement for Change and Prosperity (MCAP) has already announced its candidates, campaigning under the theme “Team to fulfill the dream”.
The six legislators who formed MCAP Government in 2009 (l to r) Germaine Wade, David Osborne. (the 4ministers Colin Riley Easton Farrell, Charles Kirnon and Reuben Meade.
According to a CMC report, Meade said the MCAP administration has made a significant impact in the communities and upon the lives of nationals and is confident of being returned to power.
One new political party is expected to contest the polls along with 11 independents announcing their intentions.
Opposition Leader Donaldson Romeo leads the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) which he said was formed following many months of research and discussion. He said that they, “also looked at devising and planning strategic activities to address, and where possible resolve the concerns and fears, with community and individual action, as well as within the structures of the incoming government.”
In the 2009 general election, the MCAP led by Premier Reuben T. Meade won six of the nine seats with independent candidates including the former Premier Lowell Lewis, winning the other three seats. At the announcement of the elections MCAP contests with five incumbents, David Osborne having removed himself from Meade and the party.
In the 2009 general election, apart from the MCAP, the other parties were the Montserrat Democratic Party (MDP), the Montserrat Reformation Party (MRP) and the Funny Ways Party (FWP).
When the still Hon. Dr. Lewis made his request on June 12, 2009 (we note an error in the newspaper of that week June 12-19, 2009, the year mentioned then as 2006), he wrote the Governor, saying among other things: “It was quite clear during discussions at Executive Council yesterday, that there is limited support for the current actions being taken by the Ministry of Finance.
It is my belief that at this critical time, the people of Montserrat should have a say in who manages their country. I believe that my colleagues in Government should have the mandate of the people, if they want to determine the future of this country.
“I therefore request that you dissolve the Legislative Council of Montserrat and schedule general elections for the 8th September 2009.”
At the time Lewis told TMR, “This is one way of clearing any obstacles in the way of successful negotiations with the British.”
The fall-out from the 2009 General Elections, with John Osborne, now deceased, and David Brandt deciding to no longer contest the Elections, Dr. Lewis, Reuben Meade, Charles Kirnon, Easton Farrell, were reelected while Roselyn Cassell-Sealy one of the Executive, Annie Dyer Howe and Idabelle Meade took defeat. Sealy’s loss at the polls was a surprise but was the result of a well-orchestrated revenge overthrow, where one who joined the MCAP the team to prevent the overthrow was elected.
A new Executive following that 2009 election comprised, R. Meade, C. Kirnon, E. Farrell and Colin Riley the new comer. The question that this group along with Germaine Wade and the new recruits have to satisfy an electorate that is encouraged to believe otherwise is whether they met Lewis’s expectations when he dissolved government in 2009.
In the last general elections 66.8% of the 3,516 registered voters voted in the elections, representing a lower percentage than the previous two elections. The population in 2009 was estimated then to be 5,500, against 4,500 to 5,000 in 2006. The recent census put the population at 4,982 and it is believed that currently it is less than that.
