ALP Threatens Legal Action on Boundaries Issue

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Politics

Wednesday, 06 June 2012 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St John's - The Antigua Labour Party (ALP) will utilize every avenue, legal and otherwise, to tackle what it considers to be gerrymandering by the ruling United Progressive Party (UPP) of the country’s constituencies that would undoubtedly see at least two ALP Members of Parliament losing their seats.

ALP deputy leader Gaston Browne said on a ZDK radio programme on Tuesday that the UPP seems to be solidifying their own constituencies while moving to undermine the strong seats for the ALP.

“Gerrymandering is clearly illegal and we will resist any effort by the UPP government to gerrymander the boundaries. We will resist those efforts variously, including taking legal and other protest actions to stop the government in its tracks,” Gaston Browne said.

Leader of the party Lester Bird said the UPP is looking to place constituencies’ boundaries in such a manner that is prejudicial to the opposition, and is looking to change the whole structure of the country.

“I hear they are trying to do away with two of three constituencies – comrade Robin Yearwood and comrade Asot Michael. That is gerrymandering because they are using the authority they have under the law to change the boundaries totally in favour of themselves, and not equalizing it as they said they were going to do,” Bird said.

The two have assured ALP supporters that the party will not sit idly by and allow the UPP gerrymandering to succeed.

Browne said that based on preliminary reports from Jimmy Fuller who represents the ALP on the Boundaries Commission, the issue has reached a “troubling” stage.

“It would appear as though the UPP government is hell bent on gerrymandering the boundaries. We have an obligation to make sure that we challenge any such attempt to gerrymander the boundaries.

Already we have placed our attorneys on notice that there is an attempt to gerrymander the boundaries and we will have to resist any such attempt. It will not happen because we will fight it and we will fight it relentlessly,” Browne said.
 

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