By Shermain Bique-Charles
The United Progressive Party’s candidate for All Saints West, Anthony Smith, is giving Prime Minister Gaston Browne six days to publicly apologise and retract statements that he made on Saturday.
Browne said that Smith has been trying to join the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party, and intensified his efforts following the matter involving former Minister of Education, Michael Browne.
“The guy there, the little boy there…he sent me all kinds of messages, he wants to join Labour Party, and he want to run…in fact I got one up to recently since Michael Browne got into trouble. But I haven’t responded. Sorry to rat out on you, sir, but you and all are trying to [hustle], trying to come on Labour Party ticket, but mi nah lie pon you.” Bowne said
Smith said, “out of my own fairness and decency, I am allowing Mr. Browne six (6) days to publicly apologise and retract his lying, concocted statements about me. If he fails to do so, I will have my lawyers proceed with litigation for defamation of my name and my character. I will also proceed with litigation against Pointe FM, the radio station through which the slander was published, and the host of the program on which the statements were made.”
Furthermore, Smith said that if the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) were the only political institution through which he could make a contribution to Antigua and Barbuda and to the politics of this nation, he would want nothing to do with that party and would not be involved in politics.
“I am the antithesis of the ABLP – meaning that I stand against everything that the ABLP and Gaston Browne represent. The Labour Party represents corruption, thievery, dishonesty, skullduggery, and misbehavior in public office. Many of its principals are associated with the physical abuse of women, pedophilia and getting rich off the backs of poor people. I could never be a part of that,” Smith added.
The young politician said he has never had any conversation with Gaston Browne in his life, and therefore deems him a “pathological liar and a disgrace to the office of the Prime Minister. His barefaced lies about me call into question every word that has ever come out of his mouth.”