St. Kitts & Nevis – September 8, 2009 (WINN):  Montserratians are going to the polls today, in a snap election called by Chief Minister Dr. Lowell Lewis, two years before they were constitutionally due. 

There are no constituencies in Montserrat as only about one third of the island is occupied.  Every voter votes for the nine candidates of their choice.  There are twenty  four candidates vying for the nine seats: nine independents and fifteen from four parties, the Movement for Change and Prosperity (MCAP), the Montserrat Labour Party (MLP), the Montserrat Reformation Party (MRP) and the Funny Ways Party (FWP).

There are just over 3000 registered voters, one hundred and eighty five more than the 2006 election.

In what local journalist Winston “Kafu” Cabey described Monday and a “big surprise,” former Chief Minister John Osborne, the former Leader of the People’s Liberation Movement (PLM), endorsed MCAP, saying that it was best positioned to lead the country. 

Osborne’s son, David Osborne is a candidate for MCAP.