Runoff Between Newton and Registe Within Months

The battle to fill the position of Caretaker for All Saint West continues after a poll.

Despite two recent polls to determine a winner, the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) has been unable to fill the position of caretaker for All Saints West.

ABLP Leader Gaston Brown confirmed, however that a run-off will be held within months to continue the party’s quest

On March 15, three candidates, Lamin Newton, Regis Burton, and Arry Simon, vied to become their party’s representative for the constituency.

Newton, who had previously served as the constituency’s caretaker for the UPP, received 157 votes, while Burton got 142 and Simon garnered 60 votes.

However, none of the candidates received over 50 percent of the overall vote as per the primary agreement signed by all three candidates.

Therefore, a run-off between the top two candidates was scheduled. Burton raised concerns about the results of the primary, and demanded that the agreement be adhered to.

Newton, however, was reportedly not interested in participating in any run-off, and the Executive moved to quash the agreement and conduct the polls to select its next candidate.

Don Anderson and Peter Wickham were selected to conduct these polls. Unfortunately, party sources confirmed that both polls proved to be inconclusive, with both Burton and Newton each emerging as the winner from one of the two polls.

The results were within the margin of error of 5 percent, and both sides only won by 2 percent in the polls.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne commented on the issue, saying that the party would host the run-off contest “maybe in a few months.” ‘

He added that they wanted to allow for a cooling-off period after the hostilities of the first primary, with the hope that there would be less hostilities going into the next primary to make a final determination.

As it stands, the position for the ABLP caretaker for All Saints West remains vacant.

Currently, the United Progressive Party’s (UPP’s) Anthony Smith Jr. represents the constituency in Parliament.

Meanwhile where that seat is concerned, Browne said the polls confirmed that the ABLP is winning that constituency

“It shows that the ABLP at the time of the polls had a greater core support than the UPP in the area. That is one of the seats that we are targeting to return to the Labour Party,” PM Browne said