PM Browne says election will be held in April

Prime Minister Gaston Browne Friday confirmed that he had written to Governor General, Sir Rodney Williams, advising him to dissolve Parliament for a general election that will be held next month.

In the last general election which was held on January 18,  2023, the ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP)won nine seats with the other seats going to the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) and a lone independent candidate.

Browne told legislators on the same day that the ABLP’s Randy Baltimore was sworn in as a legislator following his by-election victory last week, that he had written to Sir Rodney today “ advising him that acting under the powers of the Antigua and Barbuda Constitution Order 1981, Section 60, Subsection 1, which provides that the Governor General, acting according to the advice of the Prime Minister, may at any time prorogue or dissolve Parliament, now advise that the Parliament be dissolved”. 

Browne said that the intention was to “prorogue Parliament and issue the writ today” but that it would have placed the UPP at a further disadvantage.

“I am a Christian man, and I believe in mercy. So I’ve been advised to give them a few more days to allow them to get their house in order, because clearly, even though they are making articulations to the extent that they are ready, they still do not have a full slate as yet.

“And in as much as we want to be strategic, again, we don’t want to put the opposition at a major disadvantage. So instead of proceeding, and in this case the elections could have been held by the 17th of April.”

But Browne said that the government has decided that he will advise the Governor General “to dissolve the Parliament on Wednesday, 1st April 2026, by proclamation.

“Now, we have not issued the writ as yet, though the letter has been prepared, and I don’t know how generous my colleagues on this side will be, whether or not the writ of election should be issued the same day.

“When we meet next week, Wednesday, the Cabinet will make that determination and advise me whether or not the writ should be issued on the 21st, and if the writ is issued on the 21st, then the elections will be 21 days afterwards, which means it’ll be the 22nd, because it’s 21 days, including holidays, Sundays.

“However, based on the advice of my colleagues, we will determine whether or not it is issued several days later, again, depending as to the state of readiness of the opposition. But what I’ll say here, we will not give the members on the other side more than an additional week. It’ll be less than a week”

Browne told Parliament that the government is hoping that next week being Holy Week, the opposition will “utilise Holy Week to bring their party together, to get some love in their hearts, and to get in a state of readiness.

“So, Mr. Speaker, again, this is in keeping with the Representation of People Act 2001, Section 30, (3:13) and amended by statutory instrument number 6 of 2010, in which a writ of election is to be published shortly thereafter, as I said, if not by Wednesday next week, certainly within a week.

“And a subsequent correspondence will be sent to the Governor General, indicating the date for the, well, first of all, the issuance of the writ, and subsequently the nomination of candidates, and the date for the general elections,” Browne added. (CMC)

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