St John’s – The political tension between Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) and the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) seems to have escalated ahead of the January 14th by-elections of St. Peters constituency.
While the ABLP has raised questions over the fairness of the conduct of these by-elections accusing the Prime Minister of using the state resources for securing the mandate for his party’s candidate, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has launched a scathing attack on the opposition for their candidate selection.
The Prime Minister said that since the UPP did not have a leader of stature, therefore the party was struggling in selecting the candidate for the upcoming by-elections.
He said that UPP was facing internal chaos and it was forced to nominate George Wehner to contest the January 14th by-election for the St. Peter seat.
It is to be mentioned that George Wehner had earlier been defeated in the elections and he will now be competing against Rawdon Turner, who has been nominated by ABLP to contest these elections. Surprisingly, Turner had also been defeated in the elections.
According to political observers it was surprising to note that both the parties had fielded candidates who had earlier been rejected by the citizens. Given the current scenario it is likely that the candidate of the ruling political dispensation will have an edge in these elections.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has downplayed the UPP for having failed to come up with a plan for the development of St. Peter constituency.
He said the opposition party did not have any plan for the development of the constituency and they were simply trying to contest upcoming elections as a face saving measure. He said that the opposition lacked the commitment for the growth of St. Peter.
On the other hand the UPP has accused to the Prime Minister of using the government machinery and resources to secure the mandate in favour of his party’s candidate.
The opposition has also accused the Prime Minister of making attempts to manipulate public perception by giving false statements in the media.
It is to be mentioned that ABLP has been at the receiving end as there was a lot of discontent among the citizens over some of the decisions taken by the party. The party is trying to regain its lost ground amongst the voters for which it is going all out to ensure the party candidate Turner emerges victorious in these by-elections.
On the other hand the UPP is hoping that the discontent among the general public against the ruling dispensation will work in their favor and their candidate will be able to win the by-elections.
Meanwhile the voters of Antigua And Barbuda are keeping their cards close to their chest and it remains to be seen who will win the by-elections that are scheduled for January 14th.
With the escalating political tensions between the two parties the pitch of election campaigns is also reaching its crescendo in Antigua And Barbuda with both the parties trying to leave no stone unturned in order to reach out to the voters and seek their support for the by-elections.
