Do not for a moment think that there is any deep political strategy behind Gaston Browne calling an early election in Antigua and Barbuda, the answer is simple and clear; he is a failed Prime Minister who has not delivered in three years, and he is trying to pre-empt the damage that another two years in office will do.

Gaston Browne, a man who boasts of being from the ‘ghetto’, has not only embarrassed the people of Potters, he has made a mockery of the long legacy and history of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party, so much so that a former Prime Minister and ABLP leader, Mr. Lester Bird, recently had to call him out on the sad state of the tourism sector, which has stagnated while neighboring countries enjoy record growth. What’s worse is that Mr. Bird is also a sitting member of Browne’s own government.

Having failed to deliver investments, having failed to provide any substantial job creation, having failed to manage the cost of the living for Antiguans and Barbudans, what does he do? He tries to go into an election with concocted campaign issues playing to this foolish notion he encourages that he is a Worl’ Boss, that he is the champion of the common man and that he is some sort of saviour.

Gaston Browne is a coward who hides behind threatening to sue anyone who calls him out on his questionable activities. He is a champion of creating wealth for his family and friends (just look at his son, a young man with no substantial worth a couple years ago, who now holds some of the most prime real estate on the island) and the only person Gaston cares about saving… is Gaston.

Gaston Browne’s tenure in office represents one of the most devastating and barren periods in the political history of Antigua, and it is unfortunate that it had to coincide with an upsurge in the tourism industry, resulting in Antigua completely missing the boat.

Saint Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Jamaica have reported record growth in arrivals over the past three years, and when I say arrivals I mean long stay visitors. Hundreds of thousands more visitors have gone to those islands because their prime ministers have been able to enhance the infrastructure needed to capture the increased business; men who understand the notion of working with, instead of against the island’s stakeholders to the benefit of all.

Every single one of the islands mentioned above have welcomed new investors and hotels while Antigua has welcomed only promises, and seen only failure. Let’s face it, who wants to invest in an island where the leader is proposing fantastical and nonsensical concepts like ‘entrepreneurial socialism’? It is an oxymoronic concept proffered by an oxymoronic leader.

But worse than that, when you look at the hostile and injurious attacks this man has launched on the hotel sector – calling them the worst names possible – then it is no surprise that nobody wants to come to Antigua. Gaston Browne has created a toxic environment for investment accusing hotels of being ‘brutal in their requirements’ and of refusing to pay taxes.

Having scared away the legitimate investors, look at the drastic steps he must now take to attract people like Calvin Ayre, Robert De Niro and YIDA, none with any track record in the hospitality industry. YIDA has lifetime concessions; according to news reports he is manipulating land ownership in Barbuda to facilitate De Niro and Ayre, well, God alone knows what Ayre will get, but I daresay it will cost the people of Antigua and Barbuda very dearly.

Browne’s attacks on established hotels were most obvious when he went after Sandals and its chairman Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart. It is truly amazing that the one marquee resort on island, one with a 25 year track record, has suddenly become the worst thing since the Third Reich. But if you think about it closely then it all makes sense, because it plays right in to what I mentioned earlier of Gaston Browne having to create imaginary issues to campaign on.

Sadly it is not Sandals that has negatively impacted Antigua and Barbuda – the truth is they have provided employment, training and foreign exchange for quarter of a century – it is Gaston Browne’s myopia and desperation that is now hurting the many Antiguans and their families who work at the resort.

Let’s face it folks, Butch Stewart is not the one who will suffer the most from Gaston Browne’s attempts to ‘run him out of Antigua’. Sandals Grande Antigua is just one part of a huge regional operation that comprises 23 resorts.

If Gaston’s hostilities ever result in Butch leaving Antigua, Sandals will continue to flourish; in fact the company has already announced it is building four new resorts in the next three years, in Barbados (not Antigua), in Saint Lucia (not Antigua) and two in Tobago (again not Antigua). Why should Antigua have to miss out on this development?

As I mentioned, in the end the only people who will suffer are the 700 Antiguans working at Sandals Grande and their families. So the reality of it is that Gaston Browne is attacking his own people when he attacks Sandals, and when he attacks many of the other hoteliers on the island. This man will leave a trail of destitution and tears if he is allowed to continue to hold the critical office of prime minister.

And who will give these people jobs, some who have been with the company all their lives? Certainly not Rob Barrett. When Barrett took over Pineapple Resort the first thing he did was reduce staff and cut salaries. Is that the future Gaston wants for 700 of his citizens?

Fortunately, God has given the people of Antigua a date with destiny and an opportunity to call time on this bungling incompetent, and I hope they use that gift to chart a more positive and hopeful future for themselves and their children when they go to the polls on March 21, 2018.

My advice to them is to remember the old saying ‘do not judge a book by its cover’. Gaston puts up a picture of bravado on the cover, but if you look at his contents they tell a story of failed leadership, spite, anger and pain.

Gaston does not have the competence or the ability to deliver, and unfortunately there is no magic pill that he can swallow that will change that overnight. On the morning of March 21 he would have been a failed leader, and he will still be as incompetent on the morning of March 22.