Malaka Parker, the United Progressive Party’s candidate for St. John’s Rural North, has accused the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) government of politicising and mismanaging the PDV CAB social safety-net programme, arguing that it has been transformed from a structured system of protection into a politically transactional form of assistance.

Speaking at a UPP political meeting, Parker said PDV CAB was introduced when the UPP was in government as a rules-based social protection programme designed to shield vulnerable households from the effects of global oil price fluctuations. She said the programme supported more than 10,000 households and operated independently of political discretion.

Parker argued that PDV CAB was funded through savings and dividends generated from oil purchases rather than through taxation, which she said allowed it to function as a transparent and insulated system. She said beneficiaries did not have to seek approval from politicians or rely on discretionary handouts to receive assistance.

According to Parker, the programme prioritised woman-led households, pensioners, children and seniors caring for grandchildren, groups she described as central to the UPP’s social protection framework under former prime minister Baldwin Spencer.

She criticised the ABLP government for dismantling the programme’s original structure, contending that its replacement with voucher-based and discretionary assistance has made access to support dependent on political engagement. Parker said this approach undermines dignity, fairness and certainty for vulnerable citizens.

Parker said that instead of strengthening and expanding PDV CAB, the current administration monetised and politicised the programme, marking a departure from what she described as a transparent and non-partisan model of social protection.

The ABLP government has previously defended its social support programmes, saying they are intended to address economic hardship and rising living costs.