FFEL says ABEC should investigate vote-padding admission and matter should be referred to election-observer groups

Another call is being made for the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) to investigate Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s  recent admission of vote-padding, while Antiguans and Barbudans are being urged to demonstrate their disgust at his statements.

If  Browne is being truthful, says the Free and Fair Elections League, Inc.,  then it would be incumbent on ABEC to set up an independent investigation with powers of subpoena.

According to the League, the statement also brings the integrity of the Commission into serious disrepute, since it is the body responsible for the management of elections.

Therefore, the League says it is urging all right-thinking residents to condemn this situation.  

It also believes that this is a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to investigate, since Section 82 of the Representation of the People Act addresses corrupt practices in elections.

Additionally, the League is suggesting that the matter be referred to CARICOM; the Organization of American States (OAS); and the Commonwealth, since their teams observed the elections and concluded that the process had been free and fair and the will of the people was realized.

Meanwhile, an officer of the League, Bishop Rolston Jeffrey, says that residents should reject the illegitimacy of the Browne Administration, which appears to have been elected – based on the prime minister’s own words – through illegal means.