ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Jamale Pringle has been elected chief of the principle opposition United Progressive Celebration (UPP), solidifying his maintain on the Celebration he took over after Harold Lovell resigned following the Celebration’s defeat within the 2023 normal election.
Pringle, the Opposition Chief since 2018, when he was the one profitable candidate on the polls, defeated Richard Lewis by 237 to 173 votes on the finish of the Celebration’s two-day twelfth biennial convention on Sunday night time.
Pringle advised reporters that he was proud of the assist obtained after his victory.
“The duty forward is one the place I consider we’d have confirmed that democracy is alive and properly throughout the United Progressive Celebration, and going ahead, we now have to make sure that we proceed to foster occasion unity.”
His victory got here even though a number of opposition legislators had indicated in a letter leaked to the media final month that they’d be backing Lewis for the place.
Pringle advised reporters that the principle precedence now could be to unseat the ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Celebration (ABLP) that received the final three normal elections, together with the January 2023 ballot, by a 9 to seven margin.
“I’m assured that there isn’t a fallout anticipated from this Conference, and we want to carry the battle to the Gaston Browne administration as a result of we now have a mandate. Because the political chief, it’s my job to make sure that the United Progressive Celebration is targeted and in the most effective place to win the following normal elections,” he mentioned.
Celebration chairperson D. Gisele Isaac was re-elected on the Conference below the theme “Collectively in Unity: Ahead to Victory,” with Is.saIsaac urged to work with the brand new government to make sure victory on the subsequent election.
“My concern is that after the Conference, what is going to we do with all the fervour you could have poured into the Celebration these final two years? Monday, April 22, shouldn’t be once you exhale, calm down, and dangle blue suede footwear till 2027.
“Monday April 22 marks the day through which our new campaign begins, the campaign to finish the work that started final January, as a result of now greater than ever, we have to rescue, redeem, and restore Antigua and Barbuda,” Issac mentioned, including, ”now greater than ever, we have to rally; within the 4 months of 2024, we now have gone by way of a rise within the gross sales tax, sin tax, in Social Safety deductions, and fixed will increase in the price of meals and providers”.
Additionally addressing the Conference was former Trinidad and Tobago legislator Mickela Panday, the daughter of the late former prime minister Basdeo Panday, who urged the occasion “to unite within the battle for a greater Antigua and Barbuda/
She added, “You should be fearless, pushed, centered, and decided like your grandmothers, moms, sisters, lecturers, and leaders who cleared the trail to say your home on the political stage.”
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