By Robert A Emmanuel
Former ABLP Senator Aziza Lake has announced that she will once again vie to be the ruling party’s candidate for the St John’s Rural West constituency, with the Labour Party hoping to unseat United Progressive Party MP, Richard Lewis.
Lewis has held the seat since the January 18 general election, after defeating ABLP candidate Gail Christian.
Lake, who served as a Senator from 2017 to 2022, wrote to the party executive saying that despite the progress she believes the constituency has made in recent years, there has been a lack of focus on youth in the area.
“Enough has not been done for the people of St John’s Rural West to achieve their full potential,” she explained in a letter dated October 31, pointing to the alleged failures of those who represented them in the past to provide long-term solutions to structural and policy challenges.
Along with Shawn Benjamin and Russhell Ellis, who are both also running in the Labour Party primary contest, Lake previously sought to be named the Labour Party candidate for the constituency in 2017.
Lake said that, with support from her political party, she would implement various projects such as creating a ‘technological free trade zone’, curating an art and entertainment museum, and working with local app and web developers to build a ‘regional Silicon Valley’ in Antigua.
Overall, five individuals will be seeking to become the ABLP’s official candidate for the Rural West constituency. The other two are Chairman of the National Solid Waste Management Authority and member of the Antigua and Barbuda Pharmaceutical Society, Michael Joseph, and the owner of AG Morgan men’s clothing store, Kevin Morgan.