Antigua and Barbuda general election, 2004

General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on March 23 2004. The elections resulted in the defeat of the Antigua Labour Party, which had been in power since independence in 1981, by the United Progressive Party.

Results

Voting for the seat representing Barbuda ended in a draw between the Barbuda People's Movement (an ally of United Progressive Party) and the Barbuda People's Movement for Change (an ally of the Antigua Labour Party), which both got exactly 400 votes. A by-election was held on April 20 in which Trevor Walker of BPM was elected with 408 votes against 394 for the BPMC candidate Arthur Nibbs. A third party had also been in the fray in the first round, Barbudans for a Better Barbuda.

An observer team from the Caribbean Community praised the peaceful vote and said the results "clearly reflect the will of the people." Among recommendations, it urged the Electoral Commission to strengthen its independence. Previous election in Antigua and Barbuda have been followed by allegations of electoral irregularities favouring the government.

Background

The election saw the defeat of the longest-serving elected government in the Caribbean. The Prime Minister, Lester Bird, had been in office since 1994, when he succeeded his father, Vere Bird. The elder Bird had been Prime Minister from independence in 1981, and before independence had been Chief Minister of Antigua from 1960, except for the period 1971-76. Lester Bird was among eight Labour MPs to lose their seats.

The new Prime Minister, Baldwin Spencer, is a 55-year-old labour activist. "I think that the people have decided that it was a time for change," he said. He described the Bird government as "the destroyers of our democracy," and "abusers of our children, our women and our senior citizens." He warned that crimes committed against the people must be punished."

The Bird family have been widely accused of corruption and nepotism. The "Jamaica Observer" noted: "Bird's government had been badly damaged by scandals that in recent years have centred on allegations of bribery, misuse of funds in the national health insurance plan, and a 13-year-old girl's charges that he and his brother used her for sex and to procure cocaine. Bird, 66, denied the last charges and organised an inquiry that found no evidence."

Lester Bird's brother, Vere Bird, Jr., was accused of involvement with the Medellin drug cartel in 1989. He lost his Cabinet post but was not prosecuted.