Hughes pledges principled, policy-driven debate as minority leader in new Senate

Opposition Senator Chester Hughes has pledged that the opposition’s contribution in the new Senate would be grounded in research, policy, and principle rather than politics, as he assumed the role of minority leader in the upper house following today’s swearing-in ceremony.

Hughes, who previously served as a member of parliament for All Saints East and St. Luke and has had prior Senate experience, said the four opposition senators should not be underestimated by the government benches.

In his remarks, Senator Hughes told the Senate that the opposition will use their experience, and knowledge to engage in a research-based approach to debate, already articulating to his team against arriving in the Senate with unprepared positions.

“Proper research must be done in order for us to present to this nation what is right and principled for Antigua and Barbuda,” he said. “The politics is over. The work begins.”

He said the Senate must be willing to send bills back to the House of Representatives when there was good reason to do so and would do so with respect and reasoning.

“If we have to send a bill back to the Lower House, we must send it back with the respect that we have a challenge with that bill and not that we oppose the bill,” Hughes said.

He gave special recognition to Senator Tiffany Strand-Peters, noting that she hails from the same Bolans community in which he was born.

“I know the quality of work that she has done in the south,” Hughes said. “I was proud, although I was looking for a senator from the trade union movement on the other side. But I was even more elated when I heard that they’ve chosen her.”

Hughes called on all senators, regardless of their side of the benches, to approach their roles as reviewers of legislation with national interest as their guide.

“We will not debate bills on politics, but we will debate bills on policies and with principles,” he said.