The following is a press statement released by the United Progressive Party:
The Executive of the United Progressive Party (UPP) has agreed that the Leader of the Opposition will not participate in the Economic Recovery Committee (ERC) announced by the Cabinet on April 22, 2020.
The Hon. Jamale Pringle, Deputy Political Leader of the UPP, was named as a member of the ERC in last Wednesday’s Cabinet Notes, and is the only person who has been handpicked among six business and religious
organisations.
With the first meeting of the ERC scheduled for Monday April 27, MP Pringle says that no discussion has been held, and no invitation has been issued to him or to the UPP, whose Executive and Membership he represents.
Pringle says he finds it disrespectful to have been so treated and, accordingly, will channel his efforts into promoting his Party’s proposals for economic recovery directly to the People.
Meanwhile, Political Leader Harold Lovell says the Party is mindful of the need for collaborative planning to deal with the economic ravages of COVID-19. It is conscious, too, that having successfully weathered the Global Economic Crisis of 2008-12, the UPP is well positioned to offer sound advice based on experience.
However, Lovell says the Party is unwilling to continue exposing its leaders and its reputation to the unabated disrespect and disparagement of Prime Minister Gaston Browne, the Chairman of the ERC.
“On nearly every occasion that the UPP has put aside Party interests to stand with the Government for the advancement of the country, the Prime Minister has misrepresented our efforts,” Lovell says.
“He has made them an occasion for political mileage, bad faith, or ridicule in every forum, including on the floor of the Parliament.
“When we met with the Cabinet in March, the UPP presented a carefully thought-out and comprehensive plan to help the People and Nation survive the current crisis. We stand by that plan; we are committed to building upon it; and we will share it extensively with all citizens, residents, and the diaspora, so that they may benefit from our considerable knowledge,” Lovell concludes.
The Party says it will do this via mass- and social-media avenues, given the curfew restrictions now in place.
-ENDS