UPP Leader, Jamale Pringle (file photo)

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Amidst questions from some quarters as to why the United Progressive Party (UPP) was not involved in the substantive SIDS4 discussions, the party has sought to clear the air.

MP Jamale Pringle, Leader of the Opposition and Political Leader of the UPP, denied the rumours that he and his parliamentary colleagues received an invitation to participate – as delegates, observers, or otherwise – in the conference currently underway in Antigua.

According to a press release from the UPP, “The party received from the Office of the Governor-General a letter of invitation addressed to the Leader of the Opposition, which invited the opposition parliamentarians and their guests to ‘The Governor-General’s Welcome Reception for the Heads of Delegation, 4th SIDS International Conference,’ which was held on Sunday, May 26.

“On his own, MP Pringle was invited by the prime minister and his wife to a “dinner in honour of the heads of state/government” attending the conference at Sandals Grande Antigua.

Pringle further declares in the press release, “I received no other communication, not in person, nor by email, from any other government office or agency inviting our attendance at, or participation in, the conference. Accordingly, both invitations were declined.

“While the expectation of the party was that the conference would be hosted by the government and people of Antigua and Barbuda, the event has been treated, instead, like a project of the Cabinet and the Antigua Labour Party – a distortion that the UPP cannot support.”

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