U.D.P. Condemns Criminal Takeover of Headquarters by Alliance for Democracy  

The United Democratic Party’s headquarters saw a significant change on Tuesday morning as supporters of interim leader Tracy Panton took control of the upper floor of the building on Youth for the Future Drive.  Access to the party leader’s office and the conference hall was secured after the police officers assigned to the building withdrew from their posts.  After the takeover, Shyne Barrow, who has been ousted as leader of the U.D.P., called the actions of the Alliance for Democracy unlawful. In a one-on-one interview with News Five later that day, the embattled politician announced that legal action would be taken against Panton and other alliance members for breaking into the property.  A release issued by Barrow’s faction of the U.D.P. says, “The actions of the Panton/Saldivar Alliance are dangerous attacks on Democracy and have created circumstances that could have led to bloodshed.  The actions of Panton/Saldivar demonstrate a frightening disregard for the rule of law and an insatiable hunger for power by any means even if criminal or violent.  No citizen occupying a property can be forcibly removed by a band of thugs without a Court Order”.  Appearing on Open Your Eyes this morning, Panton discussed the takeover, stating that a party trustee had granted full authority to access the building. We begin our newscast tonight with an excerpt from that interview with the interim party leader.

 

Tracy Panton, Interim Party Leader, U.D.P.

“After the convention on October twentieth, there were some supporters who said let’s go and take over, we have spoken and we need you to be able to operate the business of the United Democratic Party from the headquarters.  I have gone on record to say, [the] institution is not the building, the institution is the people and the institution has been in place for fifty-one years because of the people.  But the building is iconic, it is symbolic to the United Democratic Party and I was clear in my mind and the leadership team was clear in our mind that we would do things properly and legally.  And so, we had done the research, we knew who the trustee of the property was and after the convention, we met wit the trustee to ensure that the trustee would afford us the opportunity to access and occupy the building for the work of the United Democratic Party.  And that’s what happened on Monday.  We had the full authority to access the building.  I believe that the…because most of the people who were out there were delegates to the national convention.  The police were there, indeed, but I really felt that the police, in my opinion, operated outside of their authority.  The role of the police officers was to ensure that there was law and order and that we maintain the peace and there really was no reason to have, I think I was guarded by twenty-five police officers that day from all different units of the police department.”