MP Smith says PM should resign on account of the economy in which all classes are struggling

All Saints West MP Anthony Smith, Junior is calling for the
resignation of Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

He made the call from the platform on Monday night, at a rally held
in support of his colleague, St. Mary’s South candidate Kelvin
“Shugy” Simon.

It was Simon’s resignation from the House of Representatives that
paved the way for the by-election slated for October 24.
But Smith says Simon should not have resigned on June 7. Instead,
the resignation should have come from PM Browne and his
administration, since they have been such big failures.

Smith charges that they have messed up the economic fortunes of
the country, among several other missteps that have left the people
struggling.

He notes that living in Antigua and Barbuda today is hard for even
members of the business community, for whom things continue to
decline.

In fact, the MP says, everyone – the poor, the middle, and the upper
classes, included – is trying to make ends meet on a daily basis.
According to him, after making payments on their mortgage and car
loans, among other debts, many in the middle class have no money
to save or invest in a worthwhile venture.

Smith points out that the less fortunate are faring the worst – having
to decide whether to pay their bills or to buy food, or to buy food
and have their utilities disconnected.

Further, he says, he has spoken with operators who have shared the
true financial state of their businesses, since, as he notes, there is
“no money stirring.”

Many of them, he says, are owed millions of dollars by the
Government, and they are having challenges to be paid by the
Treasury.

MP Smith notes that the private sector should be the engine of
growth in any country, investing and creating employment; but it is
unable to do so when the Government is crippling their businesses
by not offering incentives.

In the meantime, Smith says that public servants continue to cry,
and when they decide to take action they are met with threats of
retrenchment from a leader who needs to resign from the
Government.