{"id":12056,"date":"2018-02-01T15:36:13","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T19:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=12056"},"modified":"2018-02-01T21:33:05","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T01:33:05","slug":"backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm\/","title":{"rendered":"Backbencher no more Dean Jonas tells PM"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The only Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) Member of Parliament without a portfolio in the cabinet has told Prime Minister Gaston Browne that he expects this to change following the next general election.<\/p>

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Dean Jonas, who is also Deputy Speaker of the Lower House, told the budget debate today that his victory in St. George, once an opposition stronghold, should send a strong message about his worth.<\/p>\n

He told Browne that after serving over three years on the back bench, “I don\u2019t expect that to continue.”<\/p>

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The parliament erupted in laughter, but Jonas indicated his seriousness by adding that its a matter\u00a0of concern for his constituents.<\/p>

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“I know that is one of the things the people in my community are saying. The people were not happy with that position,” the MP said.<\/p>\n

“You say someone has to do it and I know the constitution does require it, but a person with my training and experience, I expect that greater value will be placed on that,” Jonas told the Lower House.<\/p>

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He defeated Dr. Jacqui Quinn in the 2014 general election and told parliament that parts of the constituency have now been transformed into a “garrison” for the ABLP.<\/p>\n

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The only Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) Member of Parliament without a portfolio in the cabinet has told Prime Minister Gaston Browne that he expects this to change following the next general election. Dean Jonas, who is also Deputy Speaker of the Lower House, told the budget debate today that his victory in St. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-2","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nBackbencher no more Dean Jonas tells PM - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Backbencher no more Dean Jonas tells PM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The only Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) Member of Parliament without a portfolio in the cabinet has told Prime Minister Gaston Browne that he expects this to change following the next general election. Dean Jonas, who is also Deputy Speaker of the Lower House, told the budget debate today that his victory in St. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Antigua News Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/antiguanewsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-01T19:36:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-02T01:33:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Dean-Jonas.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"872\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"490\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AntiguaNewsRoom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Backbencher no more Dean Jonas tells PM\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-01T19:36:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-02T01:33:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm\/\"},\"wordCount\":209,\"commentCount\":11,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:872\/h:490\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Dean-Jonas.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Featured\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/backbencher-no-more-dean-jonas-tells-pm\/\",\"name\":\"Backbencher no more Dean Jonas tells PM - 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