标签： Antigua and Barbuda

In a formal ceremony held at Government House this Monday, veteran legislator Malaka Parker took the oaths of office, allegiance and secrecy to begin her new term as an opposition member of the Senate of Antigua and Barbuda, immediately calling on majority government senators to honor the upper chamber’s core mandate of legislative revision, scrutiny and executive accountability.

Deputy Governor General Sir Clare Roberts officiated the swearing-in, which was attended by a crowd of United Progressive Party supporters, labor union leaders, and Parker’s close family and friends. This marks a return to parliamentary service for Parker, who previously held a government-aligned Senate seat from 2009 to 2014, a tenure that has shaped her perspective on the upper house’s institutional role.

In her first public remarks after taking office, Parker emphasized that government senators, who hold a majority in the chamber, carry the primary responsibility for upholding the Senate’s foundational purpose. “What I’m asking in this moment is for the government senators to function in the true spirit of what that chamber is supposed to represent,” Parker stated. “Who are in the majority and it is they who should really lead this idea of revision, of scrutiny, of holding the lower house to some level of accountability.”

Reflecting on her return to the parliamentary halls, Parker framed her new appointment as both a humbling honor and a weighty public trust. “I remain humble, and it is an awesome, awesome responsibility to stand in the halls of Parliament,” Parker said. “I treat it with reverence. I treat it with respect.” She committed to serving the people of Antigua and Barbuda conscientiously throughout her upcoming term, joining fellow opposition senators Chester Hughes, Jonathan Wenner and Ashworth Azille on the opposition bench.

Offering guidance ahead of Parker’s tenure, Sir Clare urged the newly sworn senator to anchor her work in core ethical values: “integrity, discipline, diligence, humility and a sincere desire to contribute positively to the development of Antigua and Barbuda and its people.” The appointment fills the latest opposition seat in the Senate, reshaping the body’s opposition caucus ahead of upcoming legislative work.

St Philip’s South has a new formally seated representative in national parliament, as Kiz Johnson completed the mandatory Parliamentary Oath on Monday and publicly pledged to bring unwavering dedication to his constituents. In an official statement released immediately after the swearing-in ceremony, Johnson framed the milestone as a profound honor that comes with deep, intentional responsibility rather than a mere ceremonial achievement. Unlike a symbolic title, Johnson emphasized that his position as a Member of Parliament represents a binding promise to lift up the needs and priorities of every community across the constituency. Johnson shared that he entered office carrying the collective hopes, concerns, and ambitions of the people he was elected to serve, adding that he would never treat his public duties as a casual or taken-for-granted role. The Parliamentary Oath stands as the formal, constitutional step that all elected representatives must complete to officially assume their legislative and representative responsibilities in the national governing body. Closing his statement with a rallying call for forward progress, Johnson declared, “The work continues — The Bold Way FWD,” signaling his commitment to immediate, ambitious action on behalf of his constituents.

Fresh off a landslide re-election victory that locked in a fourth consecutive term for his administration, Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda has launched a stark crackdown on unprofessional conduct among his cabinet ministers and senior government officials, demanding that any public servant who cannot stay focused and engaged during official meetings resign immediately.

Speaking in an interview with local outlet Pointe FM, Browne outlined a new push for heightened discipline and professional accountability across the executive branch, calling out a range of distracting, unproductive behaviors that he says have become unacceptable in his government. Among the most common issues he highlighted were excessive smartphone use and persistent inattentiveness that pulls officials away from critical government business being discussed at meetings.

“If you want to drop sleep and you can’t keep your head up, then leave it,” Browne told host, emphasizing that roles in public office demand full commitment from the people who hold them. He argued that any elected official or public servant who is unwilling or unable to maintain full focus during official proceedings does not deserve to keep their position of public trust.
Browne doubled down on the criticism, noting that far too many officials spend entire meetings glued to their mobile devices instead of contributing to policy discussions. All public servants and elected representatives, he stressed, have a responsibility to remain attentive and deliver productive outcomes for the citizens who elected them.
In a revealing anecdote that underscores the scope of the issue, Browne shared that he had personally observed a sitting cabinet minister playing the popular computer card game Solitaire mid-meeting just recently, exposing the complacency he is now working to root out of his administration.

The prime minister’s remarks come as part of a broader conversation about governance and accountability, unfolding just weeks after the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) secured a decisive victory in the April 30 general election. The party won 15 out of the nation’s 17 available parliamentary seats, granting Browne’s administration an overwhelming governing majority in the national legislature.

Browne has repeatedly warned his caucus and cabinet that the lopsided election win does not give the party permission to grow complacent. Instead, he has repeatedly called on ministers and members of parliament to raise their performance standards, tighten operational discipline, and work continuously to preserve the public trust that delivered their historic election majority.

Following a devastating loss in the April 30 general election, Antigua and Barbuda’s main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) is at risk of fracturing into factions, according to sitting Prime Minister Gaston Browne. In an interview with local outlet Pointe FM, Browne outlined how growing internal discontent over party leadership and recent Senate appointments has laid the groundwork for a breakaway movement that will launch a separate political entity outside the UPP structure.

Browne, whose government secured a decisive victory over the opposition last month, claimed that disillusioned members of the UPP already see the once-competitive party as a politically damaged brand, no longer capable of mounting a serious challenge to the ruling administration. “I understand that they have plans to start a new party,” the prime minister stated during his remarks on the future of the country’s opposition landscape. “What is going to happen is that those individuals are going to coalesce and they’re going to see the UPP as a damaged brand and form a new party.”

The prime minister also cast doubt on the ability of current Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle to reverse the party’s sliding fortunes and hold its remaining members together. Pringle, who was the only UPP candidate to win a parliamentary seat in the April vote, retaining his All Saints East and St. Luke constituency, faces an uphill battle to quell internal unrest, Browne argued. “To hold the UPP together, it’s unlikely that Pringle can hold the party together, and they’re likely to splinter and create a new institution,” he said.

Drawing a parallel to his own political tenure, Browne recalled similar internal divisions that rocked the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) shortly after he took the party’s leadership. At that time, small breakaway factions split from the ABLP, but ultimately none of the new groups gained enough traction to displace the original party, he noted.

As of press time, the United Progressive Party has not issued any official public statement responding to Browne’s predictions of an imminent split.

Fresh geopolitical friction between Havana and Washington has sparked alarming new warnings from Cuba’s top leader, who cautioned that any U.S. military incursion into the island nation would trigger an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. In a public statement posted to the social platform X on Monday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel stressed that any invasion would leave behind a bloodbath with consequences that cannot be calculated or reversed.

Díaz-Canel pushed back against long-standing U.S. narratives framing Cuba as a security threat, emphasizing that the Caribbean nation has never held aggressive intentions or plans toward any sovereign state, including the United States — a fact he said the U.S. government has long been aware of. He added that Cuba is already enduring a multifaceted campaign of aggression from the U.S. that has stretched across decades, and that the island retains every legitimate right to defend itself against any further military attack. Even so, he noted that pretense of an imminent Cuban threat cannot be honestly or logically used to justify a full-scale war against the Cuban people.

Current relations between the two nations are hovering near their lowest point in more than 30 years, driven by a steady escalation of pressure from the Trump administration and a deepening domestic energy crisis that has crippled daily life on the communist-governed island. Last week, Cuba’s energy ministry confirmed that a last-minute emergency donation of crude oil from Russia had been fully exhausted, leaving the country with no buffer to avoid extended, widespread power outages for the foreseeable future.

Escalating its campaign of pressure just days later, the Trump administration rolled out a new package of sanctions on Monday targeting core institutions of the Cuban government, including the country’s lead intelligence agency and national interior ministry. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed in an official statement that additional punitive measures will be rolled out in the coming days and weeks as the administration ramps up its push for regime change. The new sanctions also name 11 senior Cuban officials, including the country’s Minister of Justice and Deputy Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, who will face asset freezes and travel restrictions.

Another significant economic blow hit the island over the weekend, when Reuters reported that two of the world’s largest container shipping firms, Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd and France’s CMA CGM, have suspended all cargo services to and from Cuba to comply with the new Trump administration trade rules. CNN has reached out to both companies for official comment on the decision.

Industry analysts warn that the shipping suspension will exacerbate the severe food insecurity that has already left millions of Cubans struggling to access basic goods. For decades, the contraction of Cuba’s domestic agricultural sector and long-standing economic mismanagement have left the country dependent on imports for the majority of its food consumption. Even iconic Cuban products that were once core export commodities — including sugar, coffee, and tobacco — are now imported in large volumes to meet domestic demand.

In recent months, Trump has repeatedly signaled his goal of ending the decades-long communist rule in Cuba, publicly predicting the imminent collapse of the Castro-era regime during multiple press briefings.

The first formal sitting of Antigua and Barbuda’s newly elected Parliament got underway on Monday, marking a key milestone in the country’s democratic cycle following recent general elections. The session opened with the official swearing-in of all elected Members of Parliament, followed by a uncontested vote that confirmed Osbert Frederick’s return to the post of Speaker of the House, with Philmore Benjamin selected to serve as Deputy Speaker.

In his opening address to the chamber, Prime Minister Gaston Browne extended warm congratulations to both Frederick and Benjamin on their new appointments, before laying out the core expectations for their leadership of the parliamentary body. Browne emphasized that the House of Representatives stands as the cornerstone of the nation’s democratic system, describing it as a sacred space where elected representatives exercise the responsibility entrusted to them by voters.

Browne specifically urged Frederick to carry forward his proven record of upholding the chamber’s dignity, order and institutional integrity. He noted that during Frederick’s previous term as Speaker, he faced repeated challenges from opposition lawmakers, but consistently maintained a steady approach rooted in fairness and unwavering firmness. The prime minister called on Frederick to sustain this tradition in the new term, stressing the critical need to prevent parliamentary proceedings from descending into disarray that would undermine the institution’s credibility.

“I have full confidence that both you and Deputy Speaker Benjamin will discharge your important duties with distinction over this coming parliamentary term,” Browne added in closing his remarks.

Shortly after his confirmation, Frederick addressed the chamber to express his gratitude to lawmakers from all parties for the unanimous confidence they placed in him by returning him to the post unopposed. “I regard this opportunity to serve as both a profound honor and a great privilege,” Frederick said, adding that he prayed for divine wisdom and strength to carry out his duties effectively for the benefit of all Antiguans and Barbudans.

As the inaugural sitting drew to a close, Frederick took a moment to extend congratulations to all newly elected members of Parliament on their victory at the polls. He also extended a special welcome to a group of students from Jennings Secondary School, who were observing the sitting from the public gallery as part of an educational outreach program. Encouraging the next generation of leaders, Frederick told the students that with dedication and public service, many of them could one day hold seats in the very chamber they were observing.