The Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) Member of Parliament for Barbuda Arthur Nibbs said the petition against the election of one of his colleagues, filed by a member of the Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM), will waste time and money.
And, he said the losing BPM candidate, Fabian Jones, who is behind the challenge, should know it is without merit.
“It is frivolous and vexatious. And I think Mr Jones could have just simply tried to find out whether or not Knacyntar had resigned from her position, because she did resign. And, I’m saying it is a waste of valuable time. Our concentration should be on getting the council established, realising that the council is responsible for the local governance of Barbuda,” he said.
Jones told OBSERVER media that he filed the claim in the High Court this week against Knacyntar Nedd as it is alleged that she did not resign from her post as a senator. Under the Barbuda Local Government Act, a public officer must resign before he or she runs for political office.
Nibbs stressed that this election challenge will create a major setback for the work of the council, which should have started in January.
“We are behind time already. We should have done the setting up of the council in January but legally, now, because of the election, that had to be postponed. Now the time is for the meeting of the council to be done and we are going to be called over a court case over an issue that could have been dealt with by just finding out,” he said.
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