ALP PRO Recommends Polling

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Politics

Friday, 27 April 2012 02:30

By Colin Sampson

Antigua St John's - The Antigua Labour Party (ALP) has definitely opted to follow the route of public polling to decide between prospective candidates for the general elections due in 2014.

However, the polling option will be pursued in only two disputed constituencies, St Philips South and All Saints West. In all other cases such as that of St John's City East satisfactory arrangements have been arrived at via negotiations, rendering further action at this time unnecessary.

Thus Melford Nicholas, who heads the Organization for National Development (OND) and who the ALP executive has approved as the presumptive candidate for St John's City East, now faces only the final hurdle of ratification by the forthcoming party convention.

The ratification process applies to all prospective candidates, whether aspiring or currently serving in Parliament.

In the meanwhile, potential voters in All Saints West and St Philips South will be asked to indicate which of several ALP hopefuls they would most tend to support in an election contest with the United Progressive Party (UPP) representative.

In St Philips South, voters will be asked to indicate whether Maureen Payne Hyman or Lennox Weston is more likely to defeat incumbent MP Wilmoth Daniel, or any other candidate eventually fielded by the UPP.

The voters of All Saints West face a wider range of choices. Daven Joseph, who represented the ALP in the 2009 general elections, is being challenged by Antigua Trades & Labour Union President Wigley George and AT&LU Industrial Officer Ralph Potter.

This is according to ALP Public Relations Officer Dean Jonas, who delivered his remarks on Wednesday during a telephone appearance on the Colin Sampson Show. Readers are invited to visit the CARIBARENA.COM video archive to hear highlights from the conversation.

Jonas, who is himself the presumptive ALP candidate for the constituency of St George, stressed that the opinion polling will be conducted by a credible polling organisation, and will be carried out on a professional and scientific basis.

He revealed that the polling will seek to accurately determine the views of all voters in the two constituencies; therefore the exercise will be conducted without regard to party affiliation. In addition, the questionnaire will be designed to eliminate direct comparisons between competing ALP candidates.

However, Jonas made it clear that after the polling exercise is completed, the candidates involved may still demand that a primary be conducted. The question is whether the party executive will accede to such a demand. In any event, the PRO said, all decisions are subject to ratification by the party convention.

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