By Desmond Brown – 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 after she was expelled from the UPP following a bitter dispute over leadership.
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.
“I 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,” Lovell said on local radio Monday.
“Now, 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.
“So 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’re going to be part of the UPP but one percent of the vote is not going to cut it,” Lovell added.
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.
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.
“History has shown that a party that gets less than two percent of the votes is not a sustainable entity,” Lovell said.
“I don’t 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’s not going to be helpful to the result going forward.
“And 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,” Lovell said.
On the matter of his continued leadership of the UPP, Lovell said the matter is under consideration.
“We 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,” he emphasized.
“My 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.”
The Gastone Browne-lead ABLP won the 2018 general elections, gaining one more seat in the parliament.
It’s was a 15-1-1 win for ABLP, United Progressive Party and Barbuda People’s Movement respectively.
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@Joanne Massiah – whatever you decide to do, please be aware that there are young people looking on. Young females will especially take note of the manner in which you choose to handle an “ex-political lover” who kicked you to the curb and now wants to “play nice” just because he needs something from you. Are you going to continue be the “STRONG BLACK WOMAN” that you are and know for sure your worth and quality? Or ….
Think LONGTERM. If you are half the woman that I think you are, then I hope you will NOT take back that cheating, badminded, abusive ex. He did everything in his power to bring you down; he even called you a TRAITOR and you opined that it hurt like hell – more than childbirth. Are you ready to undo all the progress that you have made since leaving the cheating loser behind? IF you have a daughter or even nieces, I hope you know that they are watching to see how you respond as a WOMAN and potential future PM.
DO NOT BE FOOLED BY MERE SWEET WORDS from Lovell’s mouth.
Lovell wants to absorb the DNA to prevent them from sway more voters away from UPP. It’s gonna be by a bigger margin next election and he knows that. So he is trying a political strategy. DNA don’t fall for it. Your the right track and right direction. Real Leadership matters. Leave UPP behind in the dust.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 LMAO!!!!!!
Lard me belly. Now you ah beg back Joanne Harold. You finally got over the shock. Best you just leave the UPP and done cause ya political career done😂😂😂😂😂. If I were Joanne I would not go back after the doggish way you and the UPP treat her. You that desperate for power Harold. Lard me belly🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I don’t even see humbleness in the way he reaching out. His arrogance is quite evident. DNA, stay away from UPP. It’s a trap. And you know better.
Politics in Antigua is just one big joke. Just look at us fighting for these sides when they have basically all failed us. I’m not sure how many persons have really taken a long hard look at the condition of this island. The roads are absolutely horrific and have been that way forever. There is garbage just about everywhere and the politicians seem reluctant to implement rules to curb this. St. John’s is run down and just not fit to be called a city. Why can’t we have decent roads and neighborhoods, steady running water, better than substandard healthcare?
Red and blue , they have all failed us. I had the opportunity to visit someone at MSJMC recently and it was horrible. The bathrooms there are filthy, the rooms are infested with mosquitoes which is itself a health hazard. There was a chair in the room and the dirt was showing through the fabric. Why do we even bother to vote? We need to get our act together in this place. The people deserve better.
Well said my brother well said! Antigua people need to stop cussing and fighting in defense of those dead beats and demand some shape of representation from them. These people make politics seems meaningless and need to adjust their mindset
So the government build a brand new Hospital ,pay people to run the institution,and the bathrooms are dirty,you blame the Government. .This present Administration is working to better this nation,they are humans with limited resources and cannot make everything right at the same time. The UPP failed miserably,whenever you hear these negative talks about they all failed us its coming from bias shell shocked former UPP supporters -,speak for yourself,23,000 + of us happen to see what you cant,because you are color blind.What do you all want from the government,them blood?Foolish people.
You can joined him but tell him you wanna be the leader of the opposition. Good luck!!
This is very misleading. Harold Lovell didn’t beg back. He was asked if he would be open to a reconciliation with the DNA and he said yes. If the DNA is not open to it, that’s fine. But let’s be realistic. Joanne barely got 100 votes and if this is a reflection of her equity as a politician and leader, she does not have a lot of bargaining power. Joanne has run in 4 elections and lost in 3 of them. In her last election, she got less than 10% of the votes cast and will not get back her deposit. I think she has star power and little bargaining power as a politician. Even if she is well liked as a person, I don’t see her political career as leader of the DNA as a sustainable position.
If Joanne Massiah goes back to the UPP not only will she be a hypocrite and a traitor but she will be spitting in the face of the members of the DNA espically all those young persons who put themselves on the line ran in the elections and lost their deposits. Miss Massiah is a smart lady and I don’t think she will lose something that is very good. Harold Lovell is seeing the end days of the UPP and is now trying desperatly to save them and he is also seeing the DNA is the replacement for the next major political party. He is willing to do anything thing to obtain his dream of becoming the PM.
With less than 2% of the vote the DNA has not proven that they are electable. Wishful thinking. Let’s get real.
DNA just came. Now they have time to do the ground work. Starting now. They on their way to being the next opposition in Parliament. Leave UPP and their self serving tricks behind.
Oh please! The UPP is on the brink of self destruction and Harold Lovell is looking towards joining with the DNA to make the party revelent again cause he knows what he did to Joanne Massiah was one of the reason why his party was almost wiped out in the elections. I so proud of Miss Massiah for turning him done. He wanted leadership of the party so he got. Why ask me to join back after you treat me like crap and kick me to the curb. I do believe of the DNA continues to grow steadily they will replace the UPP as the next major political party in Antigua.
Harold Lovell be on “baby daddy syndrome” type shit. Keep your “legs” closed to him and do NOT waste another minute of your life with this deadbeat loser who bad-played you and dumped you in the gutter. He sounding like those niggz who don’t know what they got til it’s gone. Say NO to political pimps who don’t value you, but instead want to use you and dispose of you.
Lovell has proven to be a COLOSSAL FAILURE & WASTE OF TIME! Bun fiyah pan dat loser and his advances!! Babylon has fallen!
I wish ppl would understand that lovell is not to be blame for the dismissal of Joanne. And the branch decided they did not want to work with her anymore, she divided the branch members and so much more
“Please”get to know her then you can talk she is not as nice as she appears to be
This is exactly what I mean in my earlier post. The people of Antigua have put back in into office a party that haven’t deliver on any of their promises to the people eg. 48 out the 500 homes promised, every abled body was supposed to be put to work, didn’t happen, not even close! water situation remained the same or even got worse; the jolly harbour water situation will testify to that and I can go on and on. And the people are behaving as if they didn’t notice! They continue to play politics and that what’s destroying this land of ours. “Hypocrisy”
Then that speaks volumes about Lovell. You know for sure that the people REJECTED him inspite of “a party that haven’t deliver…”
This speaks volumes. LOVELL IS NOT WANTED!! His ass needs to RETIRE!
Says who? You? It takes a man to say I am sorry. It takes a man who, for the good of all, will sacrifice himself. It takes a man, not just any man, but a man of maturity, integrity to say let bygones be bygones ;let us look to the future! That is leadership material! Many would do well to emulate these qualities!
Lionel Nedwell-Who did u want us to put in office,Harold Lovell? You need your head Examined or your grey matter all gone.
Unfortunately, Antiguans, born and bred ,or adopted, have a history of burying their heads in the sand, looking the other way, or choking on their vomit all to get a bellyful. They are not by any standards “men who will not be bought or sold; men who will stand for truth though the heavens fall.” We saw that a vast majority of Antiguans were easily bought and will be sold before the 2023 elections.
Until we have the testicular fortitude to put country before self and integrity before greed, we will keep writing a disgraceful history for our children and when it is published, ban it in bookstores in Antigua. Alas, our youth have been discouraged from reading and researching for themselves and so, they are satiated with the regurgitated half-truths fed them by unscrupulous men!
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