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Ideology dispute

[edit]

@DennisXD Hello!

My sources explicitly state that the party is a paternalistic conservative and centre-right party. The party doesn't even claim to be a leftist anymore. If you don't believe me, I recommend researching their current policies, as well as their intense anti-leftist history since the 1960s. CROIXtalk 12:17, 28 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

In addition:
This source you used referred to a sugar strike in 1951: https://bartiguastudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2011-Antigua-Barbuda_Book_final.pdf
This source is an outdated (2008) database of members of a socialist alliance (this has nothing to do with social democracy; the party is also under new leadership): https://archive.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=1915&ArticlePageID=1270&ModuleID=18 CROIXtalk 12:34, 28 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hi @CROIX!
Reputable scources on the page are the ones stating the party's ideology is clearly centre-left with none reputable stating it is centre-right nor conservative, the only time the party's leader has anything to do with Conservatism is when he criticises anything that is to do with conservative parties and leaders in, not just the region, but also the world while more notably, always aligns itelf with parties and leaders of the left. DennisXD (talk) 20:35, 28 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
A party's relationship with foreign political parties has nothing to do with a party's ideology or policies. In fact, none of your sources appear to claim the party is left-wing other than a possible passing mention. We aren't trying to find the party's claims, but the actual facts. All of your sources in the infobox are also at least two election cycles old, and Antiguan politics have changed very much in the last seven years. If you require more sources:
CROIXtalk 22:17, 28 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Your sources do not definitively classify the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) as conservative or centre-right. In fact, let me address your points while providing all the up-to-date and well-documented evidence that supports the view of the ABLP as centre-left.
  • Vere Bird and the ABLP’s founding ideology: The party's historical and ideological roots are explicitly centre-left. As cited in The Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Modern Political Biography (https://books.google.tt/books/about/The_Hutchinson_Encyclopedia_Of_Modern_Po.html?id=u0k6AAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y - "Bird, Vere Cornwall (1910–1999) Antiguan politician, chief minister 1960–67, and prime minister 1967–71 and 1976– 94. He formed the centre-left Antigua Labour Party (ALP) in 1968"), it is noted that Vere Bird founded the ABLP as a centre-left party in 1968. This is a critical historical marker of the party’s ideological orientation from the outset, differentiating it from conservative or centre-right movements.
  • Recent policy alignment: The ABLP's foreign relations position aligns with left-leaning parties especially those in the Caribbean, and not at all with those of the centre right or to do with conservatism such as those in the Caribbean Democracy Union such as the Jamaica Labour Party. Prime Minister Gaston Browne and the ABLP, despite some controversial statements, have consistently upheld United Nations sanctions against Russia and voted in favour of Ukraine - https://pointville.ag/pm-browne-end-senseless-war-now/ ("Antigua and Barbuda has not changed its position as it has upheld all the United Nations sanctions against Russia and it has voted in support of Ukraine in that body." - Gaston Browne). This voting behaviour is more aligned with centrist or left-leaning foreign policy principles, rather than right-wing isolationist tendencies. Moreover, Browne's frequent alignment with other centre-left Caribbean leaders such as Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, both leading left-leaning Labour parties, reinforces this ideological affiliation - https://www.stvincenttimes.com/statement-by-pm-gonsalves-of-svg-at-the-first-africa-caricom-summit/ ("CARICOM’s Chairman, my friend and Comrade Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda, have provided us, broadly, with our line of march" - Ralph Gonsalves), https://dominicanewsonline.com/news/homepage/news/labour-party-brought-rescue-things-pm-skerrit-antigua-barbuda-election/ ("Prime Minister Skerrit noted that he will continue to work with Browne. “I wish to congratulate comrade Gaston Browne on his victory").
  • Economic policies and abolishing income tax: The claim that the abolition of income tax is inherently centre-right is not entirely accurate. Several centre-left parties globally have used similar policies. The New Jewel Movement (NJM) in Grenada, which had socialist leanings, also supported significant tax reforms to alleviate poverty
- Kitzinger, U. (1984). Grenada: The Struggle for Democracy. New York: Monthly Review Press.
- Campbell, H. (1993). The Grenada Revolution: A Marxist Perspective. In The Caribbean: A History of the New World (pp. 92-107).
Similarly, Sinn Féin, a left-wing party in Ireland, proposed reducing taxes on lower-income earners while maintaining progressive taxation on wealth. Thus, such policies can be seen in both left-wing and centre-left parties when aimed at improving the livelihoods of the working class, not just in centre-right politics.
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-political-science-review/article/making-the-rich-pay-social-democracy-and-wealth-taxation-in-europe-in-the-aftermath-of-the-great-financial-crisis/32825D10355D0499D31B2C248584C5DB
- https://brownpoliticalreview.org/2021/03/left-wing-prospects-a-sinn-fein-model/
https://www.imidaily.com/caribbean/saint-lucia-elects-new-government-what-does-it-mean-for-the-citizenship-by-investment-program/. Such programmes are often used by governments across the ideological spectrum to boost revenue in small economies.
The ABLP’s policies on foreign relations, tax reform, land ownership, and economic growth, when examined holistically and in comparison to other centre-left parties in the Caribbean and globally, support the argument that the ABLP remains a centre-left party. Your sources offer no definitive evidence to reclassify it as centre-right. DennisXD (talk) 05:16, 29 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The argument that the ABLP is a centre-left party appears to be nearly entirely based on what is happening in other countries.
  • To begin, the first book mentioned is severely inaccurate. The ABLP was not formed in 1968, and while the party may have been leftist at its founding (which is mentioned in the old version), the party’s politics have evolved since the independence era, as proven in the book I cited.
  • The NJM cannot be used to prove the ABLP is centre-left. The ABLP government was an ardent supporter of the invasion of Grenada, facilitated by fellow right-wing governments like Dominica, Jamaica, St. Kitts, and St. Lucia. Leftist governments like that of Cuba and Trinidad were furious.
  • The ABLP may seek relations with other Labour parties, but this is meaningless when you consider his domestic policy. I would hope that you would at least consider looking into domestic policies in future statements.
  • The policy of abolishing income tax was intended to turn the island into a tax haven, not to alleviate poverty for the poor.
  • The ABLP wishes to instill religious values in youth, a centre-right characteristic, including mandatory school prayer (https://antiguanewsroom.com/mandatory-prayers-in-public-schools-to-be-implemented-says-prime-minister-gaston-browne/)
  • Privatization of public utilities is nearly always a centre-right policy. Gaston Browne’s leftist friends would never consider implementing this. (https://antiguanewsroom.com/privatization-of-water-has-long-been-planned-by-the-browne-administration-despite-loans-for-apua-defreitas-says/)
  • Tougher law enforcement is a characteristic of centre-right parties. Nationwide curfews for juveniles are a conservative policy.
  • Reducing corporate tax is a centre-right policy, maybe not in Europe but definitely in the Caribbean. (https://antiguaobserver.com/labour-party-makes-new-promises/)
  • Leftist parties in the Caribbean don’t have a history of land privatization. I recommend researching this more, especially with the government's Barbuda policy.
  • All of my sources I cited in the article (check the revision history) explicitly prove my points. I invite you to scrutinize each of them, as all of them are reliable and reputable.
CROIXtalk 12:46, 29 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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