By Robert A. Emmanuel
“The motorcade that became a megacade” was how the United Progressive Party (UPP) described its ‘Relief and Recovery’ motorcade which traversed throughout the island on Monday, January 3.
Loaded into cars, buses, trucks, party supporters set off from the Rising Sun Cricket Ground just after 10am as the motorcade snaked through a number of communities around Antigua to include Johnston’s, Potters, Old Road, Bolans, Bethesda, Freemans Village and Falmouth, and finished hours later just after 8pm.
The organiser of the event and candidate for St John’s City South, Franz DeFreitas, who spoke to Observer media yesterday, claimed that the event was “one of the largest motorcades in the country’s political history”.
“Everybody who has ears and eyes knows that it was a phenomenal success,” he said.
As one of the first motorcades organised since the announcement of the election date, photos and videos from indicated that there were not only supporters in cars, but persons came out of their homes on what was a holiday to view the event, and some showed their support.
“Yesterday, we saw people not only on the motorcade route, but as we passed through the villages showing up to give their support and in Antigua and Barbuda, we are not a people that show their colours before the election,” DeFreitas said.
Observer media was unable to obtain exact figures from the candidate as to the number of individuals and cars that participated, but he boasted about what he deemed was a large number.
“It is not because of any great marketing that is happening on the United Progressive Party side, but it is because people are genuinely frustrated in Antigua and Barbuda,” he said.
With only 14 days left until the general elections are held, all political parties and candidates have begun to ramp up their election campaigns with several events scheduled between today and January 18, including a UPP political rally on January 5.
