Stress and tribulations: A day of testing the Senate President Alincia Williams-Grant patience

No more than two hours into a marathon sitting that saw senators debate a number of bills and resolutions, Senate President Alincia Williams-Grant found herself amidst a testy Senate sitting with both sides testing her patience on multiple occasions.

The first flashpoint came during debate on the Airport Administration Charge Amendment Bill 2026, when Senator Malaka Parker accused the government of routing airport charge revenue into what she called a “slush fund,” referring to the Climate Resilience Development Fund established by statutory instrument in November 2023.

Government senators rose in quick succession during the Senator Parker’s debate, claiming that her characterization of the amendment was misleading and demanded she produced evidence.
The exchanges grew tangled enough that Williams-Grant had paused proceedings multiple times to address the situation.

“I don’t know what happened this morning. I really don’t know,” she told the House, before adding, “Maybe we need another prayer. Maybe we should start again and have another prayer. Because I don’t know. I’m not in a fight today. I’m not in a fight.”

Moments later, after a flash of light went off in the gallery, the President had to cut in again.
“There should be no flash photography. And members who have served in this hall should know better. I don’t know,” she said, before turning to the sitting’s chaplain.

“Father Pierre, you want to go outside and anoint the doors for me, no? Do some anointing this morning, Jack, because I don’t know what’s going on today. The prayer wasn’t powerful enough.”

Williams-Grant went on to lay out the standing orders governing points of order in detail after Senators Chester Hughes and Parker had interrupted her while she was making a ruling.

“What is so difficult in comprehending that when the presiding officer is speaking, that you are to be quiet? It’s in the standing orders,” she said. “Parliamentary procedure 101 again. I don’t even know if it’s 101 or 1. The final arbiter is the presiding officer.”

As the wrangling over the Climate Resilience Development Fund’s finances dragged on, Senator Parker’s speech was once again interrupted, this time by Senator Angelica O’Donoghue with both speaking over each other about where the fund’s money came from.

“I didn’t have pepper today, though. I don’t like pepper, pepper is not my favourite thing. I don’t mind a little spice [in debates], you know, but it can be overbearing, and I think right now it’s overbearing,” the Senate President interjected, before adding exasperatingly, “I am listening [to the debates] even when you all think I am not listening… that’s why my brain can’t shut off because I have to prepare for this type of peppery exchange today. So, I’m listening.”

The disruptions did not ease as the day wore into the afternoon session.

During debate on the Citizenship by Investment Amendment Bill 2026, a phone rang out from the gallery for the second time that day, prompting Williams-Grant to halt Senator Malaka Parker’s presentation altogether.
“Whose phone is that? Second one for the afternoon,” she said, adding, “We all want to go home, you know.”

By night, the House had moved to discussing the government’s resolution setting out principles to govern any arrangement for the transfer to Antigua and Barbuda of third-country nationals removed from the United States, a debate that stretched past midnight and into the early Friday morning.

Government and opposition senators traded accusations over transparency and sovereignty late into the night, and Senator Williams-Grant again found herself intervening to restore order.
“I know it is late. Everybody is testy,” she told members at one point. Hours later, evidently drained, she was more direct still: “I’m tired. I really am.”

At another juncture, as senators spoke over each other and disputed what had or had not been said earlier in the debate, she remarked, “I don’t think we’re understanding the Queen’s English in here at all today.”

As the longest serving Senate President in Antigua’s parliamentary history, Senator Williams-Grant was tested on what turned out to be an unusually long sitting.