Antigua Labour Party (ALP) supporters listen to gospel music then burst into a brief moment of jubilation before their joyous disposition quickly subsided to a dejected mood after the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal failed to rule in the party’s favour in the election petitions yesterday. (Photo by Gemma Hazelwood)
Yesterday’s Appeal Court decision in the Election Petitions case may be the Antigua Labour Party’s (ALP) worst political setback since the massive election defeat of 2004.
ALP leaders and supporters were discernibly crestfallen yesterday, when the news broke from St Lucia that their opponents had won all three appeals against the controversial March 31 judgment which voided the 2009 election results held by government MPs.
The ALP had sought to marshal its forces at the Antigua Trades & Labour Union (AT&LU) building in St John’s to a party atmosphere of loud music, in anticipation of the court victory it had for months confidently predicted.
But when the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal made short shrift of Justice Louise Blenman’s judgments concerning the three constituencies, the initial jubilation at 46 North Street immediately turned to despondency.
A hush settled on the small crowd of red shirts (barely numbering more than 100) that had gathered in anticipation of hearing that they would be granted another crack at the UPP in the ballot box.
Instead, they were treated to considerably deflated admissions of defeat, first by St John’s Rural South MP, Eustace “Tico” Lake, who was the first to react to news of the UPP’s success in the appeals.
“We are a little bit sombre, somewhat disappointed. At this point I am still waiting for the final review, so I can understand clearly what’s going on,” Lake said.
The mass rally that the ALP had planned never materialised. Shell-shocked supporters remained rooted to where they stood, desperately awaiting comfort and reassurance from leaders and stalwarts struggling to cope with their own grief.
Party leader Lester Bird was a no show. In the end, it was his deputy and ALP chairman Gaston Browne who mounted the platform for a brief address, in which he tried to put a brave face on what is clearly a huge blow for the opposition.
Describing the ruling as “a sad day for the people of Antigua & Barbuda” Browne assured his audience that “the Antigua Labour Party did not lose,” that the ruling was merely a temporary setback or obstacle.
The St John’s City West MP, at home in his constituency, predicted that “even though the UPP won these appeals, they cannot last.” He urged ALP supporters not to let the Castries ruling de-motivate them. Despite losing this battle, Browne told them, they would most assuredly “win the war.”
(More in today’s Daily OBSERVER)
It has been clear to me from day one that Justice Blenman’s reasoning was false. We all play Cricket and we know that no matter how loud the bowler scream for a decision, if the umpire cannot say for sure that the ball hit the pad, in the right lane and before or without hitting the bat, then the advantage goes to the batsman. Persons came before Justice Blenman and not one could prove their case yet the judge turned the argument to represent others who did not come before her to say that she could not say they were not disenfranchised. Their lies the error of the judge. She was paid handsomely to say if persons were disenfranchised and not to say she could not surmise that they weren’t. A simple slight of hand if you ask me.
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Well argued Zackie. Key words ‘Well paid”
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Nothing sobers a man up more than a real good dose of reality.And reality is what the Court of Appeal both prescribed and delivered.As the Prime Minister has said,this is a victory for the people of Antigua and Barbuda.We welcome the verdict and ask that our government officials
return to the many tasks at hand—not the least of which is improving the sluggish economy, the tourist industry and creating the mechanisms by which jobs are provided for the unemployed.
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let us move our country forward and stop the bs the court case is over
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