{"id":13873,"date":"2018-03-27T18:47:20","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T22:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=13873"},"modified":"2018-03-27T22:26:32","modified_gmt":"2018-03-28T02:26:32","slug":"lets-kiss-and-make-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/lets-kiss-and-make-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Lovell open to merger with DNA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Desmond Brown \u2013 Executive Editor<\/p>

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Mere days after the United Progressive Party (UPP) was soundly beaten by the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) in a general election, UPP Leader Harold Lovell appears to be extending an olive branch to the Democratic National Alliance (DNA).<\/p>\n

Joanne Massiah launched the DNA in 2017, a year after she was expelled from the UPP following a bitter dispute over leadership.<\/p>

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Lovell, who emerged as the UPP leader, and who led the party into its second consecutive election defeat on March 21, now says he would not be opposed to a UPP-DNA merger.<\/p>

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\u201cI was a member of the ACLM and the ACLM joined with two other parties to form the UPP and with the UPP we became a fighting force capable of challenging the Antigua Labour Party. And we moved from 1994 with 11,000 people voting for the UPP to 1999, 14,000 and then the real campaign between 1999 and 2004 and by then the tipping point had been reached and we achieved 21,000 votes,\u201d Lovell said on local radio Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, we must put ourselves in a position where we can bring those types of numbers back and it cannot happen with a party where they think that they are going to make any headway with one percent. They will find themselves as part of another party and the doors of the United Progressive Party must be open to persons who genuinely want to see the party move forward.<\/p>

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\u201cSo just as the ACLM found itself as part of the UPP joining with two other parties, the DNA will have to find itself, I would think, somewhere else and they are going to have to choose whether they would want to be party of the ALP or whether they\u2019re going to be part of the UPP but one percent of the vote is not going to cut it,\u201d Lovell added.<\/p>\n

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Massiah debating budget<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The UPP leader did not say if a formal approach had been made to the DNA and it was not immediately clear if the Massiah-led party would be open to a merger or if it would want to attempt the next general election, constitutionally due in 2023, on its own.<\/p>

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But Lovell said based on the number of votes the DNA received in the last election, the party has no choice but to consider a merger.<\/p>

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\u201cHistory has shown that a party that gets less than two percent of the votes is not a sustainable entity,\u201d Lovell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what form all of this is going to take, but it clearly is not helpful to have two opposition parties going up against the Labour Party. If we have that situation, it\u2019s not going to be helpful to the result going forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think this is where the requirement for political maturity comes in. And if there are any persons, including myself, who are barriers to creating that united front to the Labour Party then everybody must be prepared to put his or her personal interest aside and do what is best for the people of Antigua and Barbuda, which is to get rid of the Antigua Labour Party,\u201d Lovell said.<\/p>\n

On the matter of his continued leadership of the UPP, Lovell said the matter is under consideration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are discussing the matter. I am of a particular view. All are not of that particular view, so I will see how things work out. I just think everything has to be put on the table and I should never ever allow myself to become an issue, never,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy position is, whatever is in the best interest of the party, that is what needs to be done and so I will do whatever is in the best interest of the party. I would never do anything that is going to hurt the forward movement of the party.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gastone Browne-lead ABLP won the 2018 general elections, gaining one more seat in the parliament.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s was a 15-1-1 win for ABLP, United Progressive Party and Barbuda People\u2019s Movement respectively.<\/p>\n

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By Desmond Brown \u2013 Executive Editor Mere days after the United Progressive Party (UPP) was soundly beaten by the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) in a general election, UPP Leader Harold Lovell appears to be extending an olive branch to the Democratic National Alliance (DNA). Joanne Massiah launched the DNA in 2017, a year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nLovell open to merger with DNA - 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\/lets-kiss-and-make-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lovell open to merger with DNA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Desmond Brown \u2013 Executive Editor Mere days after the United Progressive Party (UPP) was soundly beaten by the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) in a general election, UPP Leader Harold Lovell appears to be extending an olive branch to the Democratic National Alliance (DNA). 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