ST. JOHNS, Antigua – HUNDREDS of Antigua Labour Party (ALP) supporters marched outside Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer’s office Thursday afternoon (Apr. 8) in continued protest at his refusal to resign.
Toting placards and national flags, the red-shirted marchers danced in the street and shouted jubilant chants of “Spencer must go!”
Dubbed the “Black March”, the protest was the second such demonstration since a March 31 ruling that nullified the election of Spencer and two other United Progressive Party (UPP) Parliamentarians.
ALP Leader Lester Bird used a makeshift stage to address the crowd as proceedings wound down, reiterating his stance that the UPP government was illegitimate and that his ALP was ready to lead again.
The UPP beat the ALP in the 2004 and 2009 General Elections, ending decades of rule by the now-opposition party.
“Let my people go, Baldwin. The ALP will be working its heart out so that when our people are finally let go, we will rebuild and redirect this country,” Bird promised.
“The time has come for redemption. The time has come for us to be the gem of the Caribbean once again. We must get back our pride, and the pride is now back with the ALP.”
ALP Spokesman Lionel Hurst warned that the protest action would continue until Spencer demitted office and called for a general election or by-elections in the three constituencies related to the court matter.
The seats in questions are Spencer’s, Education Minister Dr. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro’s and Tourism Minister John Maginley’s. With the ruling, both the UPP and ALP each control seven seats in Parliament.
Tensions have run high since Justice Louise Blenman delivered her verdict last week, determining that the late start to the country’s March 12, 2009 election had disenfranchised huge numbers of voters.
The government applied for and was immediately granted a stay of execution by Justice David Harris. The three UPP ministers have remained in office since then and the party has already filed the necessary documents to appeal the ruling.
Spencer told the Caribbean Media Corporation that he was “confident” his party had a strong enough case to reverse Blenman’s decision.
Meanwhile, the ALP has until April 16 to challenge the stay granted, and Bird insisted on his weekly radio address that his party would ask Harris to remove his order.
“[We] will ask Justice Harris to reconsider the stay of Justice Blenman’s order which he granted to the UPP…the learned judge, taking account of all the relevant aspects of the law and the Constitution, should withdraw the stay which he granted on a temporary basis.”
Bird, Spencer’s immediate successor as PM, also expressed his belief that the ALP would not lose the appeal. Both sides expect the matter to be heard by the appellate court before summer.
