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Information reaching Observer is that Samantha Marshall will no longer be running as the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party candidate for St. Mary’s South.
Marshall was expected to contest against the United Progressive Party’s Kelvin “Shugy” Simon for the seat in an upcoming by-election.
She will reportedly be replaced by bodybuilder Dwayne George.
Marshall is expected to issue a press statement later today.
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It seems this although satire is quite fitting. The people of St Mary’s want glits n glamour, abs & glutes to represent them, instead of sound leadership and committed representation.
The job of a politician is not to pose and posture and entice the men & women to vote for you because you have a nice body.
The political arena is for hard working people who want to bring about positive change and represent the people well.
Samantha is the person to bring the people of St. Mary’s a representative they can all be proud of.
A vote for Shugy is a wasted vote. He’s out of government he can’t even give them a pound of Shugy because he resigned the job he was elected to do.
I read Marshall’s letter, and it is notable that it nowhere mentions the man who replaces her. This is odd. What this omission suggests to me is that she was forced out and was quite possibly kept out of the loop about her replacement. In the alternative, she disagreed with her replacement and could not bring herself to mention his name, let alone endorse him. The notion that she is stepping aside because she has a young family is nonsensical, given that her supposedly young family was young when she stood for reelection on a few short months ago and has only aged a few more months since then. The public is not being told the truth or the whole story about why she is not contesting the by-election. I am not fooled in the least, given that only a few weeks ago she was all pumped up about the rematch and was confident that she would win. This sudden replacement of a two-term, experienced politician with an untested, unproven political neophyte suggest deep divisions within the ABLP and raise serious concerns about Marshall’s leadership, popularity among her constituents and, ultimately, confidence by ABLP leadership in her ability to win. In the end, if Marshall’s stated reason (her young family) for standing down from the by-election is correct, it sends a negative message to mothers in her constituency who must make the tough choice everyday between working to pay the bills and keep the lights on and staying home and taking care of their young family. Unlike her, they do not have the option or luxury of choosing their young family over working. Circumstances compel them to do both, work and take care of their family, young or otherwise. Marshall’s sudden replacement signals panic by the ABLP and is a powerful no-confidence vote in Marshall by her party’s leadership.