General Elections As Early As March?

Today rumours raced out of Belmopan that Cabinet had decided to call early elections in March. We're not sure if that rumor was based on executive mumblings or the culmination of expectation, but the truth is, Cabinet does not decide on the date for elections - the Prime Minister does. And multiple senior sources tell us no such announcement was made at Cabinet. End of story? Not quite. The rumor, as they say, has legs, and tonight, best information to our newsroom suggests that there is a great likelihood that there will be two elections on Wednesday March 7th - Municipal and General. It is unconfirmed at this point, but an announcement could come within the next ten days. So that could mean that there are only six weeks to go before the first double elections since 2003. And if that's the case, you can expect a furious, concentrated six weeks of campaigning in the media and on the ground. Prime Minister Dean Barrow told his party's Generals to get ready from late November, so the UDP is already in high gear - and the opposition has also started to ratchet up its operations. While we don't know what factors will determine the election results, the visibility of any campaign depends to no small extent on the amount of money available to candidates, and early on, the UDP clearly has the edge in that area. And if you are wondering why the Prime Minister may be very seriously considering a double election in March, the guiding wisdom might be that because it controls all nine Town and City councils, it can only lose ground in that election - which would strengthen the PUP. Indeed, when the Musa Administration called a double election in 2003 - it did lose ground in the Towns, with the UDP capturing three that it did not previously have. Of course, the result of the simultaneous elections rendered those victories inconsequential to national politics - and the UDP, we gather, is hoping for the same thing in March 2012. Again, though, it is at best speculation at this time, and we'll have to wait at least a week to know for sure.