BROADCAST STATEMENT
ON SATURDAY, 20TH APRIL 2002
BY
HON. LESTER B. BIRD
PRIME MINISTER
ON
THE MATTER OF HILROY HUMPHREYS

Fellow Citizens,

I have today received and accepted the resignation of Mr Hilroy Humphreys as a Minister and a member of the Government after discussions between us.

I am conscious that Mister Humphreys has been a colleague of mine for more than 20 years, and I deeply respect that fact.

I know that the people of Antigua and Barbuda - all of you inside and outside the Labour Party - are very displeased with the misjudgements of Mister Humphreys and the disregard of due care and procedure as was pointed out yesterday during the hearing of the Commission of Inquiry.
As Prime Minister, I have a duty to preserve and protect the democratic institutions that my party has built in this country over the many years that it has served the people of this nation.
Just recently, I made it clear that I expect a certain standard of conduct by Ministers, and I will act when these standards are breached.

Mister Humphreys has himself indicated to me that he may have acted hastily and without due care and attention to procedure. He emphasised that he felt he was acting in good faith and in the interest of his constituents.

I have no doubt that Mister Humphreys was convinced that his actions were not wrong. However, a high standard of measurement has to be applied to Ministers of the government.
It will be recalled that when similar circumstances arose as a consequence of the Alan Joseph Forensic Audit report of the Medical Benefits Scheme, I relieved others of their Ministerial portfolios.

This time, Mister Humphreys has faced his own political conscience, and felt it would not be right to burden a whole government with public displeasure about him. He has done the fit and proper thing after full, free and open discussions with me.

However loud the opponents and supporters of Mister Humphreys may be in their detractions and derogation of him at this time, they must remember, as did Shakespeare's Othello in similar circumstances, that Hilroy Reginald Humphreys, has done the state service, and has served ably and well in several positions in both the administration of Sir Vere Cornwall Bird Snr and in my own.

It would be remiss of me if I did not say that Hilroy Humphreys and I had several disagreements in our political careers. But, I can always say for him that he stated his disagreements critically and forcefully, and always to my face. I came to respect him for his forthrightness, and I think I earned his respect for my ability to bear and forebear.

Finally, I must say that the Antigua Labour Party, Mister Humphreys, and my government have shown deep and abiding respect for the court of public opinion. Not only has the Labour Party Government accepted a forensic audit and a public inquiry into the Medical Benefits Scheme, we have severed Ministers, who in the process were found to have fallen short of the principles and practices of good governance.

Surely, whatever else may be said in condemnation, all fair-minded persons must admit that Mister Humphreys has acted honourably, and the government has acted in full respect of the written and unwritten rules of good governance.

Fellow Citizens, this is a difficult period for our nation. But what we are witnessing is the democratic process in full motion. In a less democratic State, these open wounds would have been masked from public gaze, if not hidden altogether.

It is our commitment to open government, and to the safeguarding of democratic principles that allows us to examine our weaknesses and fragilities critically, and, in doing so, enhance our nation as a whole.

We cannot put this matter behind us, but we can at least take comfort that, in the end, we have taken yet another step to strengthen our institutions of governance. We will be the better for it.
I pray God's continuing guidance for us all.

Thank you and good night.