NDP candidate Norrell Hull claims 2005 elections were not free and not fair

Norrell Hull, the candidate for the New Democratic Party (NDP) in the Central Leeward constituency in the upcoming general elections, is of the view that in the general elections of 2005, he fell victim to an election which was not free and fair.{{more}}

Hull, who was speaking at a public meeting of his party in Barrouallie on Friday, October 22, said he has been advised by people who did an analysis of the 2005 elections in his constituency, that he was a victim of an election that was not free and was not fair.

Hull, a former police officer in the Bermuda Police Force, contested the Central Leeward seat in 1998, 2001 and 2005. He was beaten on each occasion by Louis Straker, Deputy Political Leader of the Unity Labour Party (ULP).

However, while Hull seems to accept the results of the 1998 and 2001 polls, he has a different attitude to the 2005 contest.

He told the crowd gathered at Blugh Corner in Barrouallie that he returned to St. Vincent in 1998 and worked with the James Mitchell administration up to June of that year.

“I ran [in] the election that same month. Time to campaign was very little. The next election (March 28, 2001), there was a swing against the New Democratic Party. In 2005, the whole of St. Vincent and the whole of the world knows that the election was not free and fair, and I fell victim to that as well; just as ‘Nature’ (Nigel Stephenson) did; just as my friend ‘Patel’ (Roland Matthews) did; my friend The Major (St. Clair Leacock); I fell victim to that,” Hull said.

“I sat down with people who did a critical analysis of the 2005 elections in this constituency and they said, ‘Hull, you were a victim of an election that was not free and was not fair’,” he said.

In Hull’s first outing on June 15, 1998, he was beaten by the ULP’s Louis Straker by 2,183 votes to 1,670. In the election of March 28, 2001, he again lost to Straker 1,593 votes to 2,363. In the December 7, 2005 elections, he improved his performance, chalking up 1,784 votes to Straker’s 2,354 votes.

Hull has, however, warned that this time around, he and his colleagues will be on the alert.

“But come this election my brothers and sisters, we will be on the alert, because we know what happened before. We were on the alert for the referendum, and pat yourselves on the back. My agents in the polling stations did a tremendous job and I am asking them again to do that same thing to ensure that freeness and fairness exists at the next elections.”

Hull will come up against newcomer Maxwell Charles of the ULP in the upcoming elections.

Hull also said if his party wins the next general elections, he will change the name of the Central Leeward Secondary School back to the Barrouallie Secondary School. He also promised that the name of the Louis Straker Learning Resource Centre in Layou will also be changed to a name to be chosen by the residents of Layou.