Antigua Foreign Ministry refutes claim by Opposition leader

Wednesday, January 7, 2004

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua: The Antigua and Barbuda Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that Prime Minister Lester Bird was not aware of the release from the Information Department announcing his Chairmanship of CARICOM from 1st January.

The Ministry was reacting to an allegation by the Leader of the Opposition United Progressive party (UPP), Mr Baldwin Spencer, that the Prime Minister "is likely to delay the Election date so that he will have the chance to take the spotlight as CARICOM Chairman when Antigua and Barbuda hosts the next Summit, this coming March 25th and 26th." 

The Foreign Ministry revealed that the release was issued by the Information Division which did not know that on December 19th, two weeks before the release was issued, Prime Minister Bird had written to CARICOM Secretary-General Edwin Carrington telling him that he had consulted with the current Chairman, Prime Minister P J Patterson of Jamaica, and asked him to "continue to carry out the main functions of the Chairman for the first half of my (Bird's) term as Chairman".

In his letter to the CARICOM Secretary-General, Mr Bird continued, "Following the general elections in Antigua and Barbuda, it is my intention to have the duties and other responsibilities of the Chairman revert to Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister".

The Ministry said, "It is clear from Mr Bird's letter that he has no intention to delay the election date to take the spotlight as CARICOM Chairman, as Mr Spencer alleges".

The Foreign Ministry also went on to point out that being Chairman of CARICOM would be nothing new to Prime Minister Lester Bird. "He has already served twice as the Chairman of CARICOM; this will be his third Chairmanship. Therefore, the idea that Mr Bird would be deliberately attempting to seek political mileage from this post, in which he has already served with distinction, is without any foundation". 

The Ministry concluded, "Under the two previous Chairmanships of the Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, CARICOM established and launched the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), which has been a key instrument of the Region's critical external trade negotiations, and the Task Force that worked to keep Nevis as part of the Federation of St Kitts-Nevis. These were significant achievements under Antigua and Barbuda's Chairmanship." 

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