Tabor says ALP election strategies of inducements and immigration threats have lost their effect

The Antigua Labour Party appears to be losing its hold on voters as
far as electoral inducements are concerned, says Damani Tabor,
public relations officer for the United Progressive Party (UPP).

Leading up to this week’s by-election in St. Mary’s South, the ALP
and the Browne Administration threw monetary and other
resources at the constituents, seeking to recapture the seat.

Despite this, the majority of the people returned the UPP candidate,
Kelvin “Shugy” Simon, to the House of Representatives.
Analyzing the turn of events, Tabor says that people are maturing,
and they are rejecting the type of transactional politics the Labour
Party has been using over the years to win elections.

He believes the influence of money is slowly diminishing, as was the
case in the January 18 General Election, in which only a small
majority of votes kept the UPP from regaining public office, and it
was demonstrated again in the St. Mary’s South poll.

Another area that Tabor says can no longer be abused is the
immigration policy. He notes that, in the past, the Labour Party used
the immigration status of non-nationals to force them to vote in its
favour. But he says this is no longer effective.

He credits former UPP political leader Harold Lovell with proposing
reform of the work-permit system, which the Labour Party quickly
adopted leading up to the General Election.

Accordingly, Tabor says the ALP is “done,” as its vote-getting
strategies seem no longer to be having an effect or the desired
impact.