A Legal Victory for Barrow, He Regains Control of UDP HQ

The tide has turned in favor of Moses “Shyne” Barrow, as the United Democratic Party’s leadership battle heads to court. Attorney Immanuel Williams from Glenn D. Godfrey and Company LLP, representing Barrow, Michael Peyrefitte, Shary Medina, Albert August, and Hugo Patt, urgently sought court intervention to reclaim the U.D.P. headquarters through an interim injunction. The court granted this request, allowing Barrow and his team to take back the property, although the fixed date claim filed by Williams is still pending. Now, Barrow and his executives have the green light to repossess the U.D.P. building. But the big questions remain: Who is the real leader of the U.D.P., and did Panton and the Alliance for Democracy trespass when they took over the Youth for the Future property? News Five’s Paul Lopez has the details.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Tracy Taegar-Panton and the Alliance for Democracy made a bold move by storming the UDP headquarters, seizing control of the party’s iconic building on Youth for the Future Drive, along with Wave Radio and The Guardian Newspaper. This dramatic takeover happened just days after Panton and her movement held a national convention to appoint a new UDP leader. Tonight, a High Court Order has swung the pendulum back, granting Leader of the Opposition Moses “Shyne” Barrow and his executive team the authority to reclaim the headquarters and resume their operations.

 

Immanuel Williams, Attorney-At-Law

“This morning was the hearing of an interparty injunction. Our clients, the applicants, filed an injunction in court last week to remove the respondents from the, to vacate from the, UDP headquarters and for themselves to reenter the premises. So, the court heard that application this morning, considers the evidence before it and the submissions on both sides. The practical effect is that the court order takes effect immediately, therefore the applicants, Mr. Barrow and his colleagues can attend the U.D.P headquarters and repossess the property today.”

 

A few hours after the High Court’s decision, Tracy Taegar-Panton took to social media to express the disappointment felt by her supporters. She explained that the court granted an interim injunction allowing temporary occupation of the headquarters, emphasizing that this injunction is only provisional.

 

Immanuel Williams

“The relief extends until the determination of the main claim which, based on the issues there and how it will be resolved in court, may affect this application today and the orders granted.”

In their main claim, the respondents want the court to determine whether Panton or Barrow is the rightful leader of the UDP. They argue that Panton has no authority under a trust to control the UDP Headquarters and that she unlawfully took over Wave Radio and The Guardian Newspaper. These are just three of the many issues the court will start addressing on January fourteenth. We spoke with attorney Sheena Pitts after today’s injunction hearing. Panton appointed her as interim party chair on October twentieth, and she insists that Panton is still the UDP leader based on the recent convention.

 

Sheena Pitts, Attorney-At-Law

“What happened this morning is an interim injunction relief, temporary, it is not permanent. What was discussed or argued this morning, has nothing as to honorable Panton party leadership. That has not been argued. And so, there is no room for suggestion that anything changes the validity of the October twentieth convention and the results therefrom. So, the interim injunction does not change the fact that honorable Panton is the interim party leader.”

 

But Williams contends that no one should be declared leader of the United Democratic Party, not Panton nor Barrow, until the court makes its decision on that argument.

 

Immanuel Williams

“Because it is before the court I would urge to say it is an opportune time to not in fact declare anyone as a party leader since it is before the court, and it has to be addressed, and I appreciate that the media also wants to protect itself in a case like that.”

 

So, until the High Court hears the full case, Moses “Shyne” Barrow and his executive team can reclaim the headquarters that Panton and her team took over on October twenty-eighth. Meanwhile, the Alliance for Democracy insists that Barrow has been recalled.

 

Sheena Pitts

“It is important to understand that this injunctive relief does not change the reality that Honorable Shyne Barrow has been recalled. All this temporary relief is saying, before we determine the validity of that convention, we will grant an order to say, allow him to be there, you are still opened to challenge that order to be there, and we will move forward to determining what the real issue is. It is not that we are trespassers, the real issue is that she is the duly elected interim party leader by the majority from that October twentieth, 2024, unity convention.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez