Things you 
The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ALP) rejects as propaganda the recent statements by Attorney General Justin Simon regarding consultations between St. Peter’s Representative, Hon. Asot Michael, and him during the afternoon of Wednesday, May 28, 2012—the day parliament held its last sitting. For the day in question, the Speaker of the House placed the Motion of No-Confidence last on the agenda or Order Paper for discussion.
The parliamentary session that began at 10:15 am that morning, lasted for five hours, or until 3:15 pm in the late afternoon. After the lunch break, other items remained on the agenda or Order Paper to be discussed before the Motion of No-Confidence could be raised.
The consultations on the last agenda item, between Hon. Asot Michael and the Attorney General, strayed from the issue of the possible postponement of the Motion of No-Confidence, to the issue of withdrawal of the Motion. Only the issue of the Motion’s postponement was to have been broached. It was the Attorney General who moved the discussion to the issue of withdrawal of the Motion, the ALP has been reliably informed.
When, therefore, the Attorney General remarked that he held discussions about the withdrawal of the Motion of No-Confidence, it was because he strayed from the single issue of the Motion’s possible postponement. Hon. Lester Bird remained committed to presenting the Motion on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 30, 2012, if there would be no agreement on its postponement.
Had the Hon. Lester Bird not felt unwell after the lunch break, then the ALP is certain that the Rural East Representative would have returned to Parliament and presented the Motion of No-Confidence. The Motion’s withdrawal was not contemplated on that day by the Leader of the Opposition.
Despite the conclusive end of the sitting, without the Motion of No-Confidence being presented, the Hon. Lester Bird, Leader of the Opposition, has made it clear that he will write to the Speaker requesting a new date and a specific commencement time for the Motion of No-Confidence to be discussed and subsequently voted on by the members of Parliament.
The ALP assures the nation that the Motion of No-Confidence in Prime Minister Spencer is a worthy effort to remove from office the elected official who is responsible for the parlous state of the economy; who has failed to bring to Parliament, as required by law, more than 50 loan agreements totaling more than $1.5 billion dollars; who has arranged for old engines to be bought for an inflated sum of US$47 million dollars; and who has otherwise made life in Antigua and Barbuda miserable for the vast majority of its people. The ALP will keep the nation informed.
