Antigua PM refuses to quit; opposition vows court action

Antigua Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer went to work Thursday and told reporters he intends to continue as the head of government despite a court ruling that declared invalid the seat he won in last year's general election.

The ruling on Wednesday threw out the results of three members of the cabinet, reducing the governing party to seven seats, a tie with the opposition Antigua labour Party.

However, another court granted a stay until an appeal is heard before the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal.

The country's attorney general advised Spencer and the other ministers to go to work as usual.

“We are still parliamentary representatives of those constituencies. The government continues to function. Clearly, we are mindful of the implications of what has happened but we’re taking it in stride,” the Prime Minister told reporters.

He noted that the judge “felt that breach in terms of the late opening of the poll was substantial enough to void the will of the people. That is in effect what the court did”.

Spencer said he is confident that the judgement would be overturned when the matter is brought before the Court of Appeal.

“We believe that we have a strong case that could see a reversal of that earlier decision … on the grounds that the people would have spoken in emphatic terms and as far as I am concerned, there was nothing in the evidence that was presented that would have suggested that the results could have been otherwise had the polls commenced earlier,” he said.

Opposition Leader Lester Bird led supporters in a demonstration outside the Prime Minister’s office Thursday, calling for the immediate removal of the Spencer-administration.

Bird said he would also file an injunction, seeking to overturn the stay.

But Spencer called the opposition’s move as an abuse of the court and a total waste of time.

“I don’t know what that injunction is seeking to achieve. There’s nothing in the world which says right now that I have to demit office. That is absolutely absurd,” he said.

“The judge has ruled in a particular way, we certainly have some serious difficulties with the ruling. We have been able to secure a stay of execution and it gives us an opportunity to file the appeal and to get the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal to look at the decision.

“In the meantime, I’m still functioning as Prime Minister, the government is still very much in tact and we are doing whatever is required of us to ensure that the ship of state continues to sail,” Spencer said.