Antigua prime minister says Parliament will be dissolved

Browne also said, “So I want to make it abundantly clear that these litigations are really public interest litigations. They are not designed to score cheap political points….  We consulted widely, we consulted with James Gutherie Q.C in the United Kingdom, we all know Anthony Astaphan in Dominica, Elliot Mottley in Barbados and all of them unanimously agreed that there were elements of gerrymandering and there was certainly disenfranchisement and they advised us to take this matter to court. …  So these litigations were not trivial in any way,” he added.

In his broadcast Prime Minister Spencer reminded citizens that he had stated earlier that he would not consider the dissolution of parliament or fix a date for general elections, constitutionally due by July 25, until the two judgments were delivered “given their significance to the current election process and out of respect for the Court as one of our public institution pillars”.

He said the appeals filed by the opposition made for urgent hearings given the impending general elections.  He added, “In fact, a Consent Injunctive Order signed by both parties, following negotiations,  was filed with the Court’s approval, which allowed the Constituencies Boundaries Report to be debated in Parliament in the interest of time, but stayed the making of an order by the Governor General, pending the determination of that matter by the Court of Appeal.”

He said that pursuant to section 60(2) of the Constitution, Parliament will automatically stand dissolved on Saturday April 26, 2014, five years after the first sitting of Parliament following its last dissolution,  unless dissolved sooner by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister in his absolute discretion.

“It is pellucid and clear that the Court will be delivering its judgment in both matters after – in fact, 2 days after – the automatic dissolution of Parliament,” Prime Minister Spencer said, adding “I will now await the judgments before saying anything more on the matter”.

Meanwhile, the Organization of American States (OAS) says its General Secretariat and the Antigua and Barbuda government have signed an agreement on the privileges and immunities of the members of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) that will be present during the general elections to be held at a yet to be determined this year.

The OAS said the agreement, signed at OAS headquarters “reflects the measures to safeguard the independence of the observers in the exercise of their functions, and determines the nature of the cooperation between the members of the mission and the national authorities”.

OAS Secretary General Jose Manuel Insulza said the 2014 elections in Antigua and Barbuda will be the second to feature the presence of an Electoral Observation Mission of the OAS, after those held in 2009.  “The EOM will be installed about a week prior to the elections, and its work will include issues related to the observation of electoral justice, gender equity, political financing and the conditions of equality and transparency of the process,” he said.

Source: Caribbean360