Chairman of the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) Chet Greene claims the ABLP is the real victor in the Court’s latest decision regarding the election petition against the former parliamentary representative for St Mary’s South.
“We are the ones who won. The Court’s decision actually upholds the thinking of the Labour Party from day one, that Shugy was illegally nominated and therefore ought not to be in the House of Representatives. How can they claim victory when Shugy is out of the House, as we say, and the matter is going back to the people as we had suggested?”
The election petition against the opposition United Progressive Party’s Kelvin “Shugy” Simon was dismissed by the High Court yesterday after Justice Jan Drysdale ruled that, based on the current situation, the dispute in the matter had disappeared, and there was no live issue for the Court to resolve.
Simon, who was the representative for St Mary’s South until he resigned on June 7, had been facing an election petition which argued that his nomination was invalid because he was still a civil servant at the time.
Greene said that the ABLP is confident that their candidate, Samantha Marshall — who Simon defeated by 199 votes in the January 18 general elections — will be victorious at the polls this time around.
In less than 120 days, St Mary’s South constituents are expected to return to the polls in a by-election.
Greene said that the ABLP has already started the groundwork to ensure victory.