Jonas Claims Challenge Discussion Presumptive

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Politics

Tuesday, 12 February 2013 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St. john's - Candidate on the Antigua Labour Party ticket for the St. Georges Constituency Dean Jonas is not amused by the public pronouncements made by Senior ALP officials and others about his possible replacement in 2014.

Jonas, who also serves the ALP in the capacity of Public Relations Officer, has further rejected the outcome of a recent poll carried by this newspaper at the beginning of this month between himself, the incumbent Dr. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro (UPP), and his rival within the ALP Michael Freeland. The results of that poll saw Jonas coming in last.

Caribarena spoke with the senior party official on Monday and questioned other public notions of the possibility that he had signaled his interest in contesting alongside former ALP leader Lester Bird in St. John’s Rural East, should the proposed constituency changes come to fruition.

While he did not reject outright the possibility of him taking up the challenge in that area, Jonas said such a change has not yet been made and he could not in any fairness speak to it.

He noted also that until an official stand has been taken, the whole notion of the incumbent government moving to gerrymander the country’s longstanding constituency boundaries to suit its own cause remains mere speculation.

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“Nothing official has been done about the whole gerrymandering talk. The whole thing is such a load of nonsense. I don’t know why people are getting excited. (And) I don’t know that the UPP is going to go through with this,” Jonas said.

The ALP St. Georges representative noted also that as far as the Antigua Labour Party was concerned, there are 15 Candidates on the ticket to contest the upcoming election, including himself, with only two constituencies in dispute.

ALP Leader Hon. Gaston Browne has also come out against the public presumptions of who will run where on the party ticket.

Browne has sided with Jonas on this one, noting that matters of replacements and transfers were not one to be discussed in the public domain until properly decided upon by the party executive.

“I don’t see any need for any further discussion on the matter. Clearly, Dean is the incumbent custodian of that area and will continue to be unless if when we poll there is information to suggest that he can’t run. So, unless we have information otherwise, then he remains” Browne said in an attempt to put the matter to rest.

An official comment on the matter is likely to come from the ALP in due course.

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