Legislative 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

 NATIONAL SUMMARY ============================================================= Party Votes % Change Seats ------------------------------------------------------------- Antigua Labour Party 16,544 41.7 (_11.2) 4 (_8) Barbuda People's Movement 400 01.0 (_00.3) _ (_1) United Progressive Party 21,892 52.9 (+08.5) 12 (+8) Others 791 02.0 _ Undecided 1 _____________________________________________________________ Total 39,627 17 _____________________________________________________________ 

Voting for the seat representing Barbuda resulted in a tie between the Barbuda People's Movement (an ally of the Labour Patrty) and the Barbuda People's Movement for Change (an ally of the UPP). A by-election will be held.

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, 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.