UPP to Consult Constituents Ahead of White Paper Debate

By Kisean Joseph

kisean.joseph@antiguaobserver.com

The United Progressive Party (UPP) says it will hold public consultations with constituents before Parliament debates the government’s white paper on third-country deportees.

Senator Jonathan Wehner said the party’s sole sitting Member of Parliament will meet residents to hear their views ahead of the debate, expected during the week of July 13th. He said no dates or venues have yet been confirmed.

Wehner argued that elected representatives have a duty to consult before speaking on behalf of constituents in the House.

“We don’t have a direct democracy where people go to Parliament. We have a representative democracy in which we elect representatives to speak for us. Not speak for themselves, speak on behalf of us, and they cannot speak for us if they do not come to us to find out what we want them to say,” Wehner said.

He said the party intends to use the parliamentary debate to highlight what it considers significant gaps in the government’s white paper.

“We will go to Parliament, and we will show the deficiencies within the white paper itself, and what is lacking. The most obvious thing that is lacking, the most pressing thing, is what I’ve mentioned, – official documentation,” Wehner said.

Among the documents Wehner said are missing from the white paper are the original memorandum of understanding he said the government signed with the United States in December 2025, several drafts of operational procedures reportedly exchanged between the two governments, and counter-proposals he said Antigua and Barbuda submitted in response.

Wehner said the party’s approach reflects its broader concerns about consultation, noting that Parliament is expected to debate the white paper without either the opposition or the wider public having seen the underlying documentation.

He confirmed that details of the consultation forums, including dates and venues, would be announced shortly.

“The United Progressive Party representative will be going to his constituents to hear their voices. And we will announce very shortly in what forms and forums that we’ll take, but we will be meeting with our constituents in a public forum before we head to Parliament,” Wehner said.