By Robert Andre Emmanuel
Minister of Agriculture and Independent MP Anthony Smith Jr, in a tell-all interview last week, said that the public did not view Jamale Pringle as a potential Prime Minister.
Anthony Smith, who resigned from the United Progressive Party on July 15, spoke on social media influencer’s J’Truth Facebook livestream where he recited his issues with his former Party leaders, offering more reasons as to why he resigned from the Party.
During the discussion, Smith revealed that two polls were conducted where Richard Lewis was seen as the better candidate for political leader.
“Some business interests around the Party realized that, in case of an election, we [should] do some polling and it was comprehensive, they polled the business community, they polled in the nation at large.
“The business community felt as though things were getting steady and the economy was starting to grow again, and for them, they did not have any faith in putting Jamale Pringle, as the leader of this country,” Smith said.
Smith referenced that after the former UPP Political Leader Harold Lovell resigned from the party, a specialist group was created to support the then-interim Leader Jamale Pringle.
According to Smith, the group, which contained top political minds within the Party and a Barbadian political consultant who advised Prime Minister Mia Mottley, met every Monday over the next several months.
“The Honourable Jamale Pringle could not be bothered with going to these exercises to better himself, and being the Leader of the Opposition in a country, it is no joke, it is a very serious job, and you have to understand the position that you put yourself in to serve the people, and the confidence that the people in the Party would have placed in you,” Smith said.
Smith suggested that it was those polls that prompted a number of MPs and caretakers to sign a letter of endorsement supporting Richard Lewis for political leadership.
Smith challenged UPP Chairwoman D Gisele Isaac for her role during the hotly-contested UPP convention and lost.
Smith said that the UPP Chair was seen as unlikeable by the public and argued that his decision to run for Chair was based on giving the Opposition Party a better chance to win the next general election.
He said that when he spoke to the Chair about his decision, he was called a “traitor” and “backstabber” by her and other members of the Party.
Meanwhile, Smith also spoke about his relationship with St Mary’s South MP Kelvin Simon and claimed that he helped to finance his by-election campaign, claiming that the Party had no plan when they told the then-newly-elected MP to resign.
MP Simon resigned his Parliamentary seat in 2023 after weeks in the election Court over whether he was improperly elected to Parliament initially, as Simon was still a guidance counsellor at the time of his nomination.
“I was personally funding the campaign for the Honourable Kelvin Simon because I couldn’t see the brother who resigned from teaching, now entered into politics, you [the UPP] wrongfully advised him [on the Court matter] and you [the UPP] forced him to resign,” he said.
Meanwhile, Smith didn’t directly respond to questions about his own political future, whether he would run on an Antigua Barbuda Labour Party ticket.
Rather, Minister Smith said that he is “grateful” for the Prime Minister welcoming him into Cabinet, and he expressed some confidence in retaining his seat in Parliament at the next general election.