The United Progressive Party (UPP) has announced a lineup of regional legal experts, former parliamentarians and political activists who will participate in its town hall meeting Friday evening, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda.
Among the featured panelists are Grenadian attorney Ruggles Ferguson KC, former St. Vincent and the Grenadines House Speaker Jomo Sanga Thomas, opposition Senator Malaka Parker and former Senator Pearl Quinn-Williams.
The meeting, titled “The People’s Message to the CHOGM Delegates,” will focus on protecting democratic institutions, women’s rights and the environment.
Ferguson, a former president of the Grenada Bar Association, the OECS Bar Association and the Organisation of Commonwealth Caribbean Bar Associations, will participate in the segment examining the protection of democratic institutions.
He is also a member of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association.
Joining him will be Thomas, a lawyer who previously served as a senator and speaker of the House of Assembly in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Parker, a lawyer and former minister of state in Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Social Transformation, will also contribute to that discussion.
The opposition senator is scheduled to participate in a second panel focusing specifically on protecting women’s rights.
She will be joined by Quinn-Williams, a former senator and social and political activist.
The UPP has identified environmental protection as another major issue to be addressed during the gathering, although the latest promotional material does not name the panelists assigned to that discussion.
The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Freedom Hall, the headquarters of the Antigua and Barbuda Workers’ Union.
It forms part of the opposition party’s effort to bring its concerns about governance, democratic accountability, women’s rights and environmental protection to the attention of Commonwealth delegates.
The meeting comes ahead of CHOGM, which Antigua and Barbuda will host from November 1 to 4.
Source: Antigua News Room Regional legal experts, former lawmakers named for UPP’s pre-CHOGM town hall.