Prime Minister Gaston Browne has confirmed that long-anticipated changes to constituency boundaries will not proceed until the national census is complete, pushing back electoral adjustments that critics have argued are overdue.
According to Antigua News Room, Browne made the comments during an appearance on the Browne and Browne Show on Pointe FM on Saturday, explaining that the timing of the recent general election had prevented the Boundaries Commission from addressing known disparities among constituencies.
"Matters that we will resolve because we call early elections," Browne said, adding that the commission "could not have acted; they had to wait the completion of the census."
The census, which remains weeks away from completion, will supply the data required to guide any redrawing of constituency lines. "It is the census that will inform the boundary changes," Browne said.
Concerns about uneven constituency sizes surfaced in the lead-up to the April 30 general election, with critics citing population imbalances that could affect fair representation. Browne indicated those concerns will be addressed once census results are finalised and the Boundaries Commission is formally reconstituted.
"When the Boundaries Commission is actually reconstituted about two years from now, it will be in a position to make those changes because it would have had an up-to-date census to drive the process," he said.
The prime minister's remarks make clear that formal boundary adjustments remain a medium-term undertaking, even as debate over electoral fairness and representation continues.
