Title: Gaston Browne Gambled with St. Mary’s South Constituency and Lost
In a shocking display of arrogance and disregard for the democratic process, Prime Minister Gaston Browne of the governing Antigua Barbuda Labour Party made a bold and ill-advised gamble by replacing Samantha Marshall, the chosen candidate for St. Mary’s South (SMS) constituency, with Dwayne George, a former United Progressive Party member.
This move, despite the opposition of his own party members, has proven to be a costly mistake that has weakened the ABLP and put their political future in jeopardy.
Make no mistake, the recent by-election in St. Mary’s South was not a contest between Kelvin “Shuggy” Simon and Dwayne George, but rather a battle between Prime Minister Gaston Browne and Kelvin”Shuggy” Simon representing the UPP. Unfortunately for Browne, this high-stakes political game has turned into a monumental failure.
The aftermath of the 2023 general election paints a clear picture of Browne’s misguided decisions. Despite barely scraping through the general elections, Browne’s now hand-chosen candidate, Dwayne George, has now suffered a resounding defeat in this by-election.
This is a clear indication that the majority of voters in St. Mary’s South have rejected Browne’s interference and his attempt to strengthen his cabinet.
By disregarding the concerns and opposition within his own party, Browne has shown a complete lack of respect for the democratic process and the voices of his executive members. Instead of carefully considering the potential consequences of his actions, he chose to play politics with the future of the ABLP and the people of St. Mary’s South.
This gamble not only cost the ABLP the support of the majority, but it has also weakened the party internally. The central executive of the ABLP must now take a hard look at this loss and acknowledge the role Browne’s reckless decision played in it. The party’s credibility has been tarnished, and its members are left questioning the disposition and judgment of their leader.
Furthermore, Browne’s decision to replace an established candidate with a former UPP member raises questions about his commitment to the principles and values of the ABLP. It suggests that his priority lies in consolidating his own power with people who are blindly loyal to him rather than persons representing the interests of the party and its supporters.
The voters of St. Mary’s South have sent a clear message to Gaston Browne and the ABLP: they will not tolerate such blatant disrespect and manipulation. The people’s rejection of Dwayne George is a resounding vote against Browne’s reckless gamble. It is a call for change, for leadership that respects the democratic process and prioritizes the needs and aspirations of the constituencies over personal agendas.
It is time for the ABLP to reflect, regroup, and rediscover its commitment to the democratic principles that formed the foundation of its political system.
In closing the voters of St. Mary’s South have made it abundantly clear that they reject Browne’s interference and his chosen candidate. This defeat serves as a stark reminder to Browne and the ABLP that they cannot underestimate the will and determination of the people. The by-election outcome is a resounding message that the constituents of St. Mary’s South will not be swayed by political maneuvering and will hold their leaders accountable for their actions.
isaac H as
Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]
I really don’t know how people can still follow that crazy lunatic gaston clown , the man make all bad decision, and the blind people still support the clown.
Gaston wanted a win at any cost he refused to vet properly he refused to acknowledge anyone opinion but his own
If you see clearly Gaston always hire UPP disgruntled workers
Gaston phrase is “YOU KNOW WHO ME BE” and his arrogant attitude turns everyone off from him but he DNT care
Did anyone realize nobody from ALP camp was helping to campaign for Dwayne no one wanted him but Gaston
Gaston is the worst PM he’s single handily ruined the ALP PARTY
What a tremendous result and effort from the Honourable Kelvin Shuggy Simon. Well done sir!
And as Shuggy rightly pointed out:
“put that in your pipe and smoke it […] after all the millions you spend”
This by-election was NEVER about Dwayne George’s selection for St Mary’s South (ABLP could have picked any other former disgruntled UPP candidates and they still would have lost), this was more or less about Gaston Browne’s out-of-step governance of this beautiful country as a whole.
The great thing about this HUMONGOUS result for the Honourable Kelvin Shuggy Simon, is that it bodes well for future UPP elections, and by-elections.
ANTIGUANS HAVE AWAKEN AT LAST TO THE PRIME MINISTER’S 🥸 INACTIONS – THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES …
… HE NAKED!!!
Might have been a gamble but it was a smart, brilliant and tactical move. Realistically we had two UPP candidates and one DNA candidate vying for the seat. The Prime Minister was simply using a UPP candidate to beat them at their own game but it didn’t work out as he anticipated.
That was the most idiotic move in the history of politics. Had it been next election, I would see some brilliance in it. It was ego driven and doomed to fail. Why else would he assume that the constituents would support someone who was actively promoting their opponent in the recent election but had now jumped ship to support those that he was so vigorously against a few months ago? It was not possible to build trust in such a short time. He is simply seen as a turn coat. Whether he got votes or not is not indicative of his support base either. Labourites simply voted Labour, nothing more, nothing less. As with any political race, the most important were those on the fence and due to the blatant neglect of the constituency for years, a quick fix was not going to work. Gone are the days when simpletons simply drink whatever is poured into their cups. I truly hope that this serves as a lesson that it is no longer business as usual. Recent decisions are damaging the foundation and trust established by the Labour Party. When a constituency doesn’t vote for the government in power, historically, they are left to suffer. That is going to be their undoing eventually. They need to cut it out now. If you want people to support you, do your job and ensure they have proper infrastructure in their communities. If that is done, parties will not have to bribe people during an election. Then again it will still happen, because they actually think it brings results. I think SMS has debinked that though.
Sound dumb as hell😂
Gaston tek wha UPP dash way and get no seed. Samantha must feel good. Dwayne George not ready. His ABS interview exposed him. A total mis fit. Let’s see how soon these projects get completed.
There’s a thin line, between #confidence and #arrogance, and therein lies IGNORANCE dancing all over humility.
Jumbee_Picknee aka Ras Smood
De ‘ole Dutty Peg🦶🏿Garrat_Bastard
Vere C. Edwards
Remember I accurate predicted the winner and the amount in reduction of the 199 by 35 and Mr. Simon to still win.
This is a very interesting opinion.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HON. DWAYNE GEORGE! You did great in the 9 weeks u had to campaign 👏
The best is yet to come 🇦🇬 🇦🇬 🇦🇬
2 4 6 8 judas got kicked through the gate… 3 6 9 12 shuggy stay on top of gassy NERVES!!¡! 😂 😂 dem can continue spend money.. but we na want dem all around!!!!
Fitzroy, weh yu deh? Tek dat inna yu nen-nen!! 😜
💙💛💙💛💙💛🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊💙💛💙💛💙💛
Mr Browne’s calculation as to what he thinks the people wants, shows his lack of judgement, careful consideration and a desire to build strong institutional pillars that forms the basis and foundation of the ALP.
Mr. Simon in this Bi-Election over performed given what he had to work with and under perform in the January 18th election knowing his opponent and what she had to work with.
If any lesson is to be learnt from this, it is steering us dead in the face. While Mr. George did better than Ms. Marshall in the Bolans community his support going further south done him in.
To win the seat Mr. George would have needed to over perform by a wider margin in Bolans boxes 1 to 5 and would have needed to come out of Bolans ahead by over 150 votes in order to be competitive.
Mr. Simon however would have gained a few votes I believe around 4 votes coming out of Bolans against his January 18th performance. None the less he would have shown tremendous grit given the war chest that he came up against.
It is easy to conclude that had it not been for the money and projects put into that constituency the very same opportunities that were not available to Ms Marshall, Mr. George would have lost by an even wider margin.
I am not sure if the same situation would have held in any other constituencies. If they had to under go Bi- Election. I do not know if the results would have been the same.
This is a powerful lesson that can be studies by many other candidates. Mr. Simon engage in a strong relationship with the people and they rewarded him. ( RELATIONSHIP POLITICS)
The transactional nature of the ALP politics was exposed in SMS constituency and Relationships politics was the winner.
We cannot overlook the impact that Prime Minister Browne player in handing the victory in such an emphatic way to Mr. Simon. His presence did not help Mr. George infact I would venture to say it actually hurt him.
He made himself the center piece of the campaign, it was all about him and Dwayne was just a side piece, an order of fries that you don’t really want but its came with the combo. You know you cannot eat it because it would cause some bloating but it was a special, so u got it but have no use for it.
Browne was the main course George was the unwanted side piece.
It was also noticeable that none of the central executive members of the ALP was present to assist in campaigning. No ALP candidate showed up, none endorse Mr. George, none rallied with him.
So why was he even considered if the support of the party for him as a candidate was only the desire of Mr. Browne?
A better question might be, why did the rest of the ALP candidates the central executive and the general body, go along with this ill-conceived idea and now shares culpability through consent by their silence?
True Leaders want persons around them that is willing to tell them when they are wrong and do not condone wrong simply to belong.
Mr. Browne is lacking the necessary people around him to hold him accountable. This loss is not just a lost for Mr. Browne but it is a stain on the entire institution of the labour party.
Celebrate today Mr. Simon but the work has just begun. The task and journey ahead will be met with trials and tribulations. You have shown that your love and care for people is real and that is a plus, a feather in your political cap and have given you again tremendous political capital.
I congratulate you on a well deserve victory and say to you keep the work going for your constituents.
Cheers
Winston. Henry. Aka. Fled
This is a very well argued and informative comment. Whether it is actually correct, I’m in no position to judge, but it provides food for thought. Thanks.
The hypocrisy of you people. Yall were dragging Ms Marshall through the mud. Now yall sorry for her. Just give me a break. Yall only wanted her to run because she would have gotten a worse beating this time around. Though he lost Dwayne George put up a way better fight than Ms Marshall. As to the PM I hope this defeat will humble you now. You have strayed so far from who you were in 2014, the January elections results and this by-election should serve you as a wake up call that you have lost a lot of your popularity and more so the support of the die hard labour supporters.
T–Day:
Samantha ah larf she arse arf ….😂😂😂
Dwayne ah baarrll lakka wan hit dawg…😭😭😭
&
Shuggy ah boogie woogie woogie electric slide back to parliament…🕺🕺🕺
What does ERIC ( THE RED Gaston Batty Kisser) have to say? His prediction was wrong again.
Cornell Tenman Hughs going to starve since he didn’t successfully spread propaganda to swing the votes.
From the Gaston Batty Sidelines going to look dirt to eat.
Your slave massa Gaston Browne going to fire all a you for not spreading enough convincing propaganda.
@ Cornell Sidey ERIK
Do not forget Joanne ‘alcoholic kleptomaniac’ Massiah who said that Gaston was the greatest STRATEGIST on earth for having chosen Dwayne. She will say and do anything to make UPP look bad.
Mek she tek dat, she and ERIC THE RED; Iman; Tenman; Sidelines; et al. I told them that I would not be seeing them online from Wednesday and gazoom!!!!, so said, so done. They are hiding- DEM SO EMBARASSED for the RASSING that dem and Gaston and ABLP get.
THEM SO DAM SHAME. Cannot wait for the biggest shame dem will get when all board fees and ghost worker salaries will dry up when they all will live hungry and wild like us.
JUSTICE WILL COME SOON, don’t worry, like Nebuchhadnezzar all you turn coats and Gaston will soon eat grass as your money will not last forever.
This is EXTREMELY well written! Anybody with eyes could see that Dwayne George was being used as a puppet.
Its best he leave Antigua, at least for a good while. So embarassing for ABLP. Poor George.
They (ABLP) gonna treat the man like a stray dog.
HE B — I — T — C — XXXXX.
TELL HIM TECK THAT .
Gatson Browne’s leadership is tantamount to the leadership of one Donald J Trump..they both are a stain on the system and are self centered narcissist..Not good qualities as leaders, and now it’s showing up big time.
Unfortunately as like Donald, it’s those around him that get hurt most, and many a political careers are ruined after this massive lost sustained in the SMS By-election.
Some of my favorite quotes in this blog spot and what I think of them:
@Fled
Fled, you said this: “True Leaders want persons around them that is (sic) willing to tell them when they are wrong and do not condone wrong simply to belong.”
Where you get this, Fled? Telling leaders they are wrong? Are you talking about modern day politics as it is widely practiced? In your bedgrass, how many people told Lovell that Giselle was bad for him and the party and he needed to get rid of her from that powerful position? How many people told the same Lovell that he needed to take control of his party and not surrender it to the many kingmakers he had whispering in his ear?
And @Black Hypocrisy:
“Though he lost Dwayne George put up a way better fight than Ms Marshall.”
What fight? The guy was missing in action. He was consistently upstaged on the few platforms he appeared, and in the last days he just disappeared altogether. At least, Marshall ran her campaign. Who knows what she could have done with half of what Dwaynie had?
And this last is this beauty:
“As to the PM I hope this defeat will humble you now. You have strayed so far from who you were in 2014,….”
Are you talking about our Gaston Browne, the one we all know? Strayed from who he was in 2014? Dude, the guy is the same as he was. He was able to fool you all with militant, brash, boastful, freedom fighter talk, and that allowed him to pull everybody into his trap. He bragged and talked big and bold so the young men thought he was the real thing. Remember when he told off the IMF woman and went to the UN and cuss them out? That was who he was. Remember what he just told J Truth, raw and unadulterated? That is who he is. He never changed.
Fled, you and Dave said some good stuff and some really yucky things last night. Fled, you keep saying that Dwayne did so very well, sounded like you were auditioning for something. Then you also it was all credited to Gaston’s heavy and open handed support. Seems you could not make up your mind. Was it him doing well, or was it the money, fridges, washing machines, bikes, ACs, etc that did it for him?
And Dave, what with all this “I love the guy” stuff about Antonio? The guy was a loser. He could not even get 10 votes. You thought it was so nice to see him show up. Just showing up and saying middle of the road things is not great, Dave. He did not look like prime time material.
The young lady sounded more politically savvy than you. She could define how Dwaynie really got there.
You guys act as analysts and really say some dumb things, even to the point of contradicting yourself. Do a bit more preparation. Watch the pros work.
Comments are closed.