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News > World

Antigua Elections to be Held 'Within Weeks'

  • The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne.

    The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne. | Photo: EFE

Published 24 February 2018
Opinion

Residents of Barbuda, despite continuing recovery efforts after Hurricane Irma, will be able to vote in their local constituency.

Gaston Browne, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, has announced that parliamentary “elections will be within a matter of weeks.” The announcement was made in the Caribbean island's Lower House, where Browne noted that it would be the last sitting before the next general election, according to local media reports. 

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“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,” Browne said. 

He added: “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” unless extenuating circumstances prevent it.

Elections are not constitutionally due in the two-island nation until June next year, according to Caribbean 360.

The Constituencies Boundaries Commission has announced that should parliamentary elections take place before the date outlined in the constitution, no alterations will be made to boundaries delineating constituencies.

“The members of the Constituencies Boundaries Commission considered that any changes would be disruptive to the conduct of an early election,” the report noted.

“The Commission made a good determination in anticipating the elections based on the information in the public domain that elections would more than likely be held early and decided to file the report, which was the sensible thing to do. I want to commend them on their foresight and for taking my articulation seriously,” the Prime Minister said.

Residents of Barbuda, despite continuing recovery efforts after Category 5 Hurricane Irma, destroying over 90 percent of building structures, will be able to vote from their local constituency.

Charlesworth Tabor, an attorney, said “There is nothing preventing” the people of Barbuda from voting on their island, according to the Antigua Observer. “It is not an electronic election where you need internet access and you need electricity. It is a manual exercise.”

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