By Tahna Weston
The opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) convened a meeting last night to chart the way forward following the announcement of the date for the St Peter by-election.
After Thursday’s funeral of the constituency’s Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Asot Michael, who represented St Peter for decades before his tragic death, the government announced that the by-election would take place on January 14, 2025.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has written to Governor General Sir Rodney Williams, as required by the 1981 Constitution Order of Antigua and Barbuda Section 41(3), notifying of the by-election to fill the vacancy which has been created in Parliament due to the death of the St Peter MP.
Leader of the Opposition Honourable Jamale Pringle confirmed that his party will be meeting to discuss the imminent by-election.
Pringle, during an interview on Observer AM yesterday, said the UPP would not announce its plans before the meeting, so further details would not be revealed until some time next week.
“Yes, we’re meeting [Friday] evening and before any announcement, I would want us to meet first and then we will revert back to the public,” Pringle said briefly before going into discussions about his Christmas traditions.
According to law, once the seat of an elected Member of the Lower House becomes vacant “there shall be a by-election to fill the seat in the House … and that by-election shall be held no later than 120 days after the date on which the seat of the Member of the House became vacant”.
Based on the timeframes stipulated in the Representation of the People Amendment Act No. 11 of 2002, by which a by-election may be held, PM Browne has directed the Governor General that the Writ of Election should be issued on Monday, December 23, 2024; therefore, Nomination Day has been set for December 31, 2024.
MP Michael, 54, was found dead in his home at Dry Hill on November 5, and his body bore numerous stab wounds. The alleged killer, Alexta Francis, a 27-year-old resident of Golden Grove, is on remand awaiting his committal proceedings. It is alleged that he had confessed to committing the gruesome act.
Michael, who had represented St Peter for two decades, ran as an Independent candidate during the 2023 General Election, winning the seat for a fifth consecutive term. His previous wins were on an Antigua Labour Party (ALP) and Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) tickets.
The by-election will determine who will replace Michael as the parliamentary representative for St Peter.
In the January 2023 elections, Michael had defeated the UPP’s representative Tevaughn “Peter Redz” Harriette, the Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA’s) Chaneil Imhoff, and the ABLP’s Rawdon Turner.
He amassed 2,137 votes while the ABLP copped 899, the UPP 601, and the DNA 29.
This will be the second by-election which the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) would have conducted in a little over a year. On October 24, 2023, a by-election was conducted in St Mary’s South following the resignation of the current MP Kelvin Simon – a former teacher — from the Lower House over allegations that he had not resigned from the Civil Service before he contested the polls.
However, MP Simon defeated the ABLP’s candidate, Dwayne George, who was his former campaign manager.
