Attorney General Stedroy Benjamin on Monday criticized the absence of opposition members during the first sitting of the new Parliament, questioning the timing of the no-shows and suggesting it reflected the state of the opposition following the April general election.

Benjamin made the remarks shortly before the House adjourned after the swearing-in ceremony for Members of Parliament.

“It seems that there will be no speeches from the other side,” Benjamin said. “They have disappeared as they did disappear the last elections.”

The Attorney General said the absence of opposition representatives “demonstrates and confirms” the decision voters made in the April general election.

“They made the right decision,” he said. “They don’t appear. They don’t work. As a matter of fact, they are a disunited bunch of people.”

Benjamin also questioned the reasons given for the absences.

“Isn’t that passing strange, that today, of all days in Parliament history, some sort of excuses be made — people being sick, traveling,” he said.

Earlier in the sitting, Speaker Osbert Frederick announced apologies from the member for All Saints East and St. Luke, the member for Barbuda, and the member for St. Philip’s South, who was said to have had an emergency.

Benjamin said the government side would continue its work regardless of the opposition’s absence.

“This wagon train over here will continue to function,” he said. “We are here to make certain that the people of Antigua and Barbuda benefit from the Renaissance.”

The sitting marked the formal opening of the new Parliament following the swearing-in of elected MPs, the return of Osbert Frederick as Speaker, and the election of Philmore Benjamin as Deputy Speaker.