{"id":12751,"date":"2018-02-22T13:26:32","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T17:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=12751"},"modified":"2018-02-22T16:11:44","modified_gmt":"2018-02-22T20:11:44","slug":"parliament-dissolved-election-imminent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-dissolved-election-imminent\/","title":{"rendered":"Parliament Dissolution and Election “Imminent”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Prime Minister Gaston Browne, moments ago, not only announced that Parliament will be dissolved, but hinted “elections will be in a matter of weeks,\u201d after months of public speculation that an early election would be called.<\/p>

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\u201cThis sitting, unless there are any extenuating circumstances, shall be the last sitting until the next General Elections,\u201d the PM said.<\/p>\n

This announcement comes only 3 years, 8 months and 10 days after his Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party took office. The next election is constitutionally due in 2019.<\/p>

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\u201cFor those of you who are arguing that the elections are coming too soon, I did say that it will come like a thief in the night,\u201d the Prime Minister added.<\/p>

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Browne also commended both the Boundaries and the Electoral Commissions for taking him “seriously” as it pertained to the likelihood of an early general election.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who are responsible, the electoral machinery and the Boundaries Commission, were very much aware that the elections were probable and imminent…,” the PM added while addressing the Lower House today (Thursday).<\/p>

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During the sitting, the Leader of the Opposition, Baldwin Spencer, also said farewell<\/a> to active politics.<\/p>\n

Sir Gerald Watt also gave his farewell address as this, too, will be his last day as Speaker of the Lower House during this administration.<\/p>

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\u201cI want to thank the Prime Minister,\u201d said Sir Gerald. \u201cThis first tenure has been an honor for me and I have had no problems in the House and have enjoyed my stint.”<\/p>

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Prime Minister Gaston Browne, moments ago, not only announced that Parliament will be dissolved, but hinted “elections will be in a matter of weeks,\u201d after months of public speculation that an early election would be called. \u201cThis sitting, unless there are any extenuating circumstances, shall be the last sitting until the next General Elections,\u201d the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nParliament Dissolution and Election "Imminent" - 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\/parliament-dissolved-election-imminent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parliament Dissolution and Election "Imminent"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prime Minister Gaston Browne, moments ago, not only announced that Parliament will be dissolved, but hinted “elections will be in a matter of weeks,\u201d after months of public speculation that an early election would be called. \u201cThis sitting, unless there are any extenuating circumstances, shall be the last sitting until the next General Elections,\u201d the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-dissolved-election-imminent\/\" \/>\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=\"2018-02-22T17:26:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-22T20:11:44+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\/Gaston.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"823\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"463\" \/>\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\/parliament-dissolved-election-imminent\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-dissolved-election-imminent\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#\/schema\/person\/36cac05ef6398fe56ae3e6317f8535c5\"},\"headline\":\"Parliament Dissolution and Election “Imminent”\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-22T17:26:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-22T20:11:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-dissolved-election-imminent\/\"},\"wordCount\":248,\"commentCount\":22,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-dissolved-election-imminent\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:823\/h:463\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Gaston.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Featured\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-dissolved-election-imminent\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-dissolved-election-imminent\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/parliament-dissolved-election-imminent\/\",\"name\":\"Parliament Dissolution and Election \\\"Imminent\\\" - 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