ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The main opposition Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ALP) Friday described as “extraordinarily hypocritical and morally vacuous” reports that the Ambassador to Cuba, Bruce Goodwin, is to be appointed temporary Chairman of the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC).

The party has warned that “any attempt to appoint Ambassador Goodwin to the Electoral Commission will be seriously resisted.

“Mr. Goodwin is unacceptable in law as a temporary Chairman of the ABEC on the basis that he now serves as Ambassador to Cuba. That appointment requires him to obey the instructions of the Prime Minister,” said the ALP, noting that the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 2001, Section 6(4), require Mr. Goodwin to “act impartially and independently of any political or government influence and shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority”.

The ALP said that Ambassador Goodwin cannot serve two masters

“He can either be an Ambassador or a Commissioner. Since the appointment to the ABEC is temporary, Ambassador Goodwin is ineligible to serve as on the ABEC as a Commissioner.”

The opposition party said it is a known fact that the nominee for the position has a record of “open and public hostility to the ALP” and that the planned appointment “is extraordinarily hypocritical”.

Earlier this week, Opposition Leader Lester Bird wrote Governor General Dame Louise Lake-Tack protesting her decision to suspend three ABEC members.

Bird said that he was not consulted by the Governor General prior to her decision to suspend the members from July 19, in contravention of Section 4(4) of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 2001.

In May, the Governor General announced she had asked the Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court seeking assistance with the establishment of a tribunal to investigate the three ABEC members, after Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer had written to her outlining what he termed breaches of the electoral law allegedly committed by commission chairman Sir Gerald Watt QC, his deputy Nathaniel James and Lionel Hurt.

In his letter, the Prime Minister said the breaches included the delayed opening of polling stations in the March 12, 2009 general election and a severely tainted voters’ list and that citizens are entitled to have an Electoral Commission that is capable of exercising its functions under the law.

He noted that on Election Day, March 12, 2009, it became clear within hours of the start of voting that the Commission was not ready or able to conduct the elections as required by law and expected by the people of the state.

On March 31, Justice Louise Blenman ruled that the election of Spencer, Tourism Minister John Maginley and Education Minister Jacqui Quinn-Leandro was invalid, throwing the United Progressive Party (UPP) administration into a tailspin.

The judge based her ruling on polling day irregularities, particularly the long delays before voting began in the three constituencies.