Barbados is also going to the polls and to the poles

I have not been ignoring Barbados' general election, which is due to be held on January 15. The announcement came as a nice pre-Christmas present from PM Owen Arthur. As I was off the island I preferred to get back and have a sense of the real fervour that exists. After two days I know that most of the day the radio stations (especially Voice of Barbados) are filled with party political adverts; it seems that every five minutes or less I hear a plug for the "Dems" or the "Bees". The daily newspapers too are flooded with political ads; on 16 pages out of 47 in The Nation and on 11 out of 48 pages in The Advocate today. Some are witty. Some are too cute (DLP ad with mugger unable to get any money from citizen who has spent it all on a basket of groceries--"sky rocketing cost of living" is the message). Some are truly silly (such as DLP ad with PM Arthur's face superimposed on a supposed military dictator's body saying "I am no tyrant"). The issues are as usual getting mixed up with nonsensical activities. For me the best of the latter category concerns the posting of political ads on electricity poles, which Barbados Light and Power tells us creates security issues. Amongst these are the risk that those putting up the illegal posters might fall and hurt themselves. Now who says that business is not caring?

A spate of allegations have flowed over the past few days as well as reports of unsavoury business:

• BLP accuse DLP of being funded by Taiwanese interests; DLP vigorously deny.
• PM Owen Arthur accused CLICO Chairman, Leroy Parris of visiting St. Kitts to negotiate with Taiwanese government; he strongly denies (see report in The Nation); Taiwanese diplomats also deny these stories.
  
• UWI political science academic, Don Marshall, reports that he received death threats at a BLP meeting.
• Radio callers were concerned that the sporting of party colours (BLP=red; DLP=yellow) would lead to some increases in election-related violence; but one man reported being pelted with eggs near a party rally and he was in a neutral coloured car and wearing a white shirt.
• DLP party posters and billboards (placed illegally) were torn down in various locations.
• DLP concerns that their phones are being tapped.
  

There has been some slight controversy over PM Arthur naming Clyde Mascoll, the government's front man on economic affairs, as "co-leader", whatever that means. I don't have any idea what that means for Mia Mottley who is officially Deputy PM.

So far I have not heard much that is new except that the "integrity" issue has been put forward by the DLP as a part of its platform. DLP president, David Thompson, stated that no member of a government led by him would take office unless that MP declared his/her assets, and he made a jibe at BLP's Minister of Tourism for refusing to answer questions on his personal wealth during a now infamous Sunday radio call-in show, when the Minister stormed out of the studios.

BLP has an ad where it says "tax cuts" on pensions, plus raising thresholds and allowances on a wide range of allowances. To be paid for how? DLP will consider a range of measures to help curb price increases, including considering removing VAT on electricity usage. Again, to be paid for how?

From my house I get a good dose of the loud electioneering every evening.
Who will win? I could not guess at this stage. If you gauge the noise and rhetoric it will be a dead heat.