A week ago, Hon. Pringle (Leader of the Opposition) “threw down the gauntlet” to Sir Gerald, Speaker of the House; So, is Antigua and Barbuda’s “rookie opposition leader ready to join the “big league” of opposition politics? If Hon Spencer v. Dame Harris and Hon Brown v. Dame Isaac, are harbingers of things to come, the legendary Sir Gerald, should be busy, preparing him self for more.
Some of you may have watched young Pringle testing PM Brown and Hon Maria Bird-Browne with some quite torrid bouncers during the 2020 budget debate; Now it seems that the opposition leader (lone UPP seat in the house) is determined to challenge the authority of the Speaker on the basis of impartiality. Hon Pringle appears to believe that Sir Gerald has left his “umpire’s position” at square leg or behind the stumps at the bowlers end; and has taken guard at the batting crease.
Pringle’s actions and words may have frowned on classical parliamentary manners, in the art of politics, ain’t nothing wrong with his “antics”. If anything, the Speaker should expect Mr Pringle to push him harder and further, even trying to get himself ejected from the chamber, once in a while.
Hon Pringle and his advisors may have calculated that an “under-dog” has nothing to lose, coming from so far behind; his only option is to “go for brokes”.
Taking back the reins of Government won’t be easy; the current Labour Party administration is the most powerful in independent Antigua-Barbuda; at least by way of popular votes.
The priority for Hon Pringle and Mr. Lovell, is to plug the loss of popular support for the UPP, and (at least) win back those seats the UPP controlled during the 1990s; decidedly more difficult, without Joanne Messiah in the party’s leadership. If the UPP takes back those seats, people will start believing that the party can win Government again. In the circumstances, having Harold Lovell as political leader is a plus; He is experienced and he almost always gets the attention of the PM.
Some may argue that (when in Parliament) Sir Gerald’s best antidote to a clearly “fired-up” Pringle, is to put-off the garbs of judicial advocacy and clothe himself in the moral armor of a well-respected supreme court judge, always striving for a perfect balance in the scales of parliamentary justice. Otherwise, The Speaker “may be weighed in the balance and found wanting” .
Walk good until round two Antigua-Barbuda’s Opposition Leader v. Speaker of the House.
(Authorized for republication in its entirety)
Arvel Grant, Political and Current Affairs Analysts