Four govt legislators in Antigua resign

ST JOHN’S, Antigua: Four legislators resigned from Antigua’s governing party and declared themselves independent leaving the embattled prime minister hanging onto a slim majority in Parliament. The resignations came Tuesday, hours after Prime Minister Lester Bird said he would call fresh elections by October rather than be subject to a no-confidence vote called by backbencher Sherfield Bowen, one of the legislators to resign from the Antigua Labour Party. Bird’s comments came two days after hundreds rallied behind Bowen, who filed the motion for no-confidence last month alleging corruption and lack of transparency in Bird’s administration. Bowen, along with fellow backbenchers Hilroy Humpreys, Bernard Percival and Longford Jeremy, sent a one-paragraph statement to Gov. Gen. James Carlisle announcing their resignations. “We no longer repose any confidence in Prime Minister Lester Bird and hereby withdraw our support from him,” the letter said. In separate letters to House Speaker Bridget Harris, the four said they would remain in the Parliament’s House of Representatives as independents. The move leaves the Labour Party with eight seats in the 17-seat House. The opposition United Progressive Party holds four seats and the Barbuda People’s Movement, one. Independent Observer Radio reported that Bird met with Carlisle early Wednesday but details were not immediately available. Bird’s office has not yet publicly responded to the resignations. Earlier on Tuesday, Bird said he would hold a June 29 party convention to determine whether and when he should dissolve Parliament ahead of fresh elections, which are constitutionally due by March 2004.

Legislators from both the governing and opposition parties said Tuesday they were not against holding elections early, as long as there was time to update voter registration lists to eliminate Antiguans who were deceased or had emigrated. At least 30 percent of the registered names were not residents in Antigua and Barbuda, which has a population of 68,000, the parties have said. Bird also said he was willing to debate the confidence motion if Harris decided it was admissible, but said it should be rewritten. He had scheduled a debate on the no-confidence motion June 12, but the meeting was never held. Bowen said on Tuesday he would continue to push,  when he accused him of corruption and asked him to step down following allegations that he had sex with a teenage girl. Bird has denied the accusations and has agreed to testify in a civil case accusing him of raping the girl. Two journalists videotaped the girl, now 16, who claimed she had sex with Bird and his brother in 1999 when she was 12. She also claimed that she did drug deals on their behalf. Bird has denied meeting the girl and has denied being involved in drugs. Last year, a government-ordered investigation cleared him on the basis of lack of evidence. Bird has been prime minister since 1994 when he succeeded his father, former Prime Minister Vere Bird.