PRIME MINISTER Denzil Douglas’ incumbent St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party (SKLP) seems headed for a landslide victory at today’s general election in its bid for an unprecedented fourth consecutive term in government of that twin-island federation.

In sharp contrast, the once dominant People’s Action Movement (PAM) that secured merely one of the eight seats in mainland St. Kitts five years ago at the October 2004 election, was struggling against the odds to avoid another humiliating defeat.

As it was in 2004, PAM’s leader Lindsay Grant was being pushed on the defensive up to this past weekend to prevent a second defeat for his own St Christopher No.4 constituency.

Last evening his constituency was the staging ground for Labour’s final election eve rally and gospel concert that featured the popular Barbados-born Caribbean gospel singer Joseph Niles.

However, Grant has shrugged off Labour’s optimism as based on “propaganda” generated by its campaign of “misrepresentations” and was maintaining that PAM’s central focus on “time for a change” would translate into a new government after today’s results have been officially declared”.

The PAM leader’s own confidence is not supported by any credible opinion poll done for today’s election and is partly linked to a late showing of campaign support from the party’s former long-serving leader and Prime Minister, Dr Kennedy Simmons.

At the 2004 election, Labour had retained power by winning seven of the eight St Kitts constituencies with 51 percent, while PAM secured just one constituency and polled 31.7 percent.

In sister isle Nevis, the duel for the three seats to complete the traditional composition of the 11-member National Assembly of elected MPs (plus three senators), will be between the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) and the Nevis Reformation Party (NRP). At the last election, CCM won two of the Nevis seats to the one secured by the then United National Empowerment Party (UNEP).

A total of approximately 32,000 voters are eligible to choose the new government. Of these some 25,000 are registered to vote in St. Kitts for eight of the constituencies. And last evening, an extremely confident Prime Minister Douglas, told the ‘Daily Nation:

“Surprises do occur at democratically conducted elections, but the only surprise for tomorrow’s poll would be the extent of our victory and I do not expect it to be less than the seven we won in 2004..,PAM will certainly remain as an opposition party”

Polling stations will open from 7 o’clock this morning and close at 6pm. It is expected that the new composition of the new government should be known by 10 pm.