No disruption!

The ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has outrightly dismissed assertions that the exams conducted by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) on May 24, Election Day in this country, will be disrupted or negatively affected in any fashion by the general election.

In a press conference called yesterday morning at the DLP’s George Street headquarters, the party’s spokesperson for the election campaign, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport and candidate for Christ Church West Central, Stephen Lashley, gave the students taking those exams, their parents and those seeking to cast their votes, the assurance that there will be smooth running of both the scheduled exams and polling on Election Day.

He made the comments in response to concerns raised by Leader of the Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP), Mia Mottley, that the setting of the general election date as May 24, was a “royal fumble”.

Lashley dismissed that idea, maintaining that the Electoral and Boundary Commission, the CXC and the Ministry of Education were consulted regarding the election date.
“The setting of the date of the General Election has not been set out of Mars, and the notion by the Leader of the Opposition that somehow the Ministry of Education and the various officials in Barbados apparently don’t know what they are doing, is really something that I have to rebut head on,” he said.

The DLP spokesperson indicated that the Ministry has done everything to ensure that students writing exams on May 24 will not be impeded, and maintained that the exams will be staged in keeping with the manner in which they have always been done.

“There is no concern absolutely, and certainly I have gotten and received the assurance that the Ministry of Education has got everything that is required to be in place to have those examinations conducted.

“Certainly in relation to the examination centres, there was early consultation with the Electoral and Boundary Commission to ensure that the examination centres – and there are some that will be doubling up in relation to the polling stations – that everything will be in place to ensure that there will be a smooth running of examinations as there will be a smooth running of the polling on election day,” he contended.

The DLP spokesman went further, contending that the rules governing polling stations are that persons cannot congregate in and round those areas, and as such, he said they are in essence quiet zone. That fact, he said would make such an area an “ideal situation” within which to have examinations conducted.

Lashley made the point while contending that the upcoming election is not the first to be held during an exam period, as he cited the elections of May 28, 1986 and May 23, 2003, which he noted were both called by the BLP. With that in mind, he labelled the criticism of the date as merely a scare tactic, and urged the public to be wary. He made the call as he charged that the Opposition was seeking to create false alarms and drama.

As to Mottley’s concerns that students who are likely to be first time voters would also be disadvantaged, Lashley said a look at the exam candidates showed there are “hardly any first time voters among them”.

“This campaign in my view needs to be fought on the facts and the strategies that are required to continue to build Barbados; and that is how the Democratic Labour Party will be conducting the election,” he affirmed. (JRT)