By Neto Baptiste
A potential candidate for the presidency of the Antigua & Barbuda Athletic Association (ABAA) and former national athlete, Teddy Daley, is raising questions pertaining to the recent approval of at least seven new members by the body’s executive, given the likelihood that elections could be held before the end of the year.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo sports show, Daley admitted that there is no rule within the body constitution that clearly speaks to when new members can be accepted but added that is pervious years, decisions were made to not approve new membership too close to a vote. He likened the move to ‘voter padding’.
“For the last three elections, no new members were allowed to join the organisation this close to a general election. I think five or six months out, nobody was allowed to join because the reason given is because these new members would now be electors and they would not have known the candidates. They would not have been in meetings to see the positions the candidates would have taken and they would not have known of the contributions the candidates would have made so they would be voting from an uninformed standpoint and as a result of that, it was preferred that the membership be deferred until after the election,” he said.
Daley, a co-founder and coach of the Power Speed Endurance (PSE) Track Club, announced his intentions to challenge for the association’s top post in October, just a little over a month after he had announced his resignation as a member of the athletic body.
Daley said he has requested information pertinent to his campaign from the body, but said he is yet to have his request honoured.
“I wrote to the president [Everton Cornelius] on the 15th of October requesting a list to verify the voting strength and he answered me two days later and said that after the executive would have done it’s due diligence that the pertinent information would be sent out to everybody and that all the candidates contesting any position in the election will be given the information. I have not received that to date and it has been just about a month after I would have written,” he said.
However, one member of the association’s executive and coach, Kesswin Anthony, sought to clarify the issue surrounding the acceptance of new members, suggesting that those who were recently accepted had applied for membership months ago and included at least one member of Daley’s club.
“I can remember that we sat in an executive meeting and the general secretary turned over some applications for membership from persons who would have applied for membership to the association. One such person that got membership and had applied since April is the president of the PSE track club so I find it very strange that Mr Daley is on the radio saying that these persons would have applied recently. These persons would have applied for membership since before April, some in May,” he said.
At least one other potential candidate, Cleofoster Harris, has publicly signalled his intentions to challenge for the top spot while reports are indicating that current vice president, Shawnor Charles Joseph, will also contest the race.
