Jubilant Trevor Walker sends clear message to ABLP
Trevor Walker and the Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) declared their success at the polls as historic, saying it sends a clear message from the people of Barbuda to the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP). Walker won the Barbuda seat by more than 200 votes — the largest margin of victory in the sister island’s […]
Black News 
Trevor Walker and the Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) declared their success at the polls as historic, saying it sends a clear message from the people of Barbuda to the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP).
Walker won the Barbuda seat by more than 200 votes — the largest margin of victory in the sister island’s electoral history.
Speaking to jubilant supporters at Madison Square on Wednesday night, Walker said the issue of land remains at the heart of everything the party stands for.
“And this is a message that we have sent to the world that we are standing firm and we’re going to defend our land. Because every time we come, we talk about land — that is all we have; that is all we can defend.
“Antigua don’t have much left but Barbuda have real estate that they want and we’re going to defend it because it should be used for the interest of all Barbudans,” Walker said.
The BPM leader also addressed his opponent, Kendra Beazer directly, urging him to cut ties with the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP).
“I want to say to you tonight, for me personally, I want to thank you for a campaign … and I want to say we ran a very decent campaign. We didn’t curse anybody, but I want to say to you that Barbuda must come first.
“And I say this to you: If you have any interest in politics, you will never make it under the umbrella of the Antigua Labour Party. Antigua Labour Party destroys the fabric of what we stand for. And so, I want to say to you if you want to come and join the line you may have to go in the back of the line, but come in this line,” Walker said.
He added that the BPM swept all five ballot boxes, saying the Labour Party has no support base on the island.
Meanwhile, Beazer thanked those who backed his campaign and said he has no regrets about the platform he ran on.
“Thank you to the persons that voted for me. Thank you to the persons that stood by me. Thank you to the persons that stayed up with me going through the electors list. Thank you to the persons who helped me plan my campaign for the three-week period that we had to run. Just an overall sense of gratitude is sent out to them,” the ABLP candidate noted.
Beazer said the issues he raised during the campaign remain real, and he is not walking away from politics.
“I ran on a truthful platform; I ran on a platform for the people of Barbuda speaking on the issues that they were really just pressing at this point and the issues that have been keeping them back here in Barbuda,” he said.
“Politics has always been a love of mine [and] I may not be on the slate the next time around -and I’m not saying that I don’t want to be or I want to be, but as it stands, I will still be around where politics is concerned in Barbuda. I think it is a great tool for progress here on Barbuda and I think that good representation is also needed here in Barbuda, so the future for me is very much involved in politics and frontline politics here in Barbuda.”
For one BPM supporter at Madison Square, the victory meant one thing above all else.
“This means to us a good feeling. It means that we can be at ease, our mind is at ease because our land is ours. The same land that the Honourable Gaston Browne wants, we want um even more and we done show you how much we want um too,” the woman said.
