Prime Minister Gaston Browne on Thursday gave his broadest hint that a general election will be held early this year. “I hear a number of individuals on the radio proclaiming to understand my behavior and based on my behavior they are pretty sure the elections will not be called before November or December of this year,” said Browne in Parliament.
Matter of weeks
“Well, I want to say to those individuals that they need to disabuse their minds of any such notion because the reality is, the elections will be within a matter of weeks.”
The Prime Minister made the statement as he tabled the Boundaries Commission (majority) report. However, there were no proposals for any changes to the constituency boundaries.
Baldwin Spencer bids farewell
Meanwhile, leader of the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), Baldwin Spencer bid farewell to the Parliament and national politics on Thursday.
When the house convened Spencer thanked the nation for granting him the opportunity to serve as Prime Minister for two terms.
And as the nation anticipates an early election, the ruling Antigua Barbuda Labor Party (ABLP) announced it will be launching its election campaign.
Could be this weekend
According to the Antigua Observer, based on several social media posts, it is anticipated that the Prime Minister will announce the election date on the weekend.
The Observer quotes the Prime Minister as saying that the public will get more details about the party’s candidates at an event on Saturday.
“We will be having a very exciting concert which will be the launch of our campaign and we will be introducing all 17 candidates to the Antiguan and Barbudan people,” he said.
A general election is constitutionally due this year. In the last general election held in 2014, the ALP won 14 of the 17 seats.
