In a sharp rebuke of a public broadcaster’s election outreach initiative, Antigua and Barbuda’s main opposition bloc, the United Progressive Party (UPP), has moved to withdraw all its remaining candidates from ABS TV’s widely publicized “Know Your Candidates” program. The decision, finalized over the weekend, comes on the heels of widespread complaints from party participants and audience members, who have flagged perceived partisan bias and aggressive, confrontational conduct from the program’s host, as well as consistently negative framing in post-interview news coverage of UPP candidates’ appearances.
Party leadership formally notified ABS TV of its withdrawal on Sunday evening, just hours before two of its remaining scheduled participants — Johnathan Joseph and Malaka Parker — were set to appear for their segments on Monday morning. Just one week prior, the UPP had agreed to the program’s terms and committed to fielding its slate of candidates for the voter education initiative. Last Friday, two UPP hopefuls, Ashworth Azille and Kelvin Simon, already completed their scheduled on-air interviews as part of the program.
ABS TV has pushed back forcefully against the opposition’s allegations, flatly rejecting any claims of biased or tendentious reporting tied to the election program. According to the broadcaster, “Know Your Candidates” was designed as a nonpartisan voter education tool: incumbent office-holders seeking re-election are given space to defend their legislative records, while first-time challengers can outline their policy platforms to create a public benchmark for voters to reference throughout the campaign season.