Astaphan not convinced about Lovell’s return

Senior Counsel Anthony Astaphan is weighing in on the return of Harold Lovell to the political arena.

He shared that he was surprised by his return and the direction the United Progressive Party (UPP) is going in.

“I would have thought after losing the last two or three times the UPP would be looking for new faces, new voices in the various constituencies who can attract the young people and the young voters in particular and get the necessary votes to move forward,” Astaphan stated.

Earlier this month, former Leader of the United Progressive Party, Harold Lovell, announced his return to the political arena declaring that he will contest elections in the All Saints West constituency against former UPP member Anthony Smith.

When the news broke, many UPP supporters and a few political analysts said Lovell’s return was a good move.

Political analyst Peter Wickham has expressed optimism regarding Lovell’s chances of securing the All-Saints West seat in the upcoming general elections, constitutionally due in 2028.

The shifting political dynamics could play to Lovell’s advantage, according to Wickham, particularly in the wake of Smith’s unexpected departure from the UPP.

But Astaphan is not so convinced.

He said he would have expected for the party to move in another direction, revamping their entire political approach, strategies and campaigns in the hopes of winning over the public.

“I think the current face, current direction, current direction are sounding like an old message, and I don’t think that is attracting anyone anymore and I don’t know if Mr Harold Lovell will change the direction,” Astaphan added.

Lovell, who retired from politics in January 2023, revealed he had been under steady pressure from voters to return.

Last elections, Lovell contested the St John’s City East Constituency against ABLP’s Melford Nicholas and lost by 4 votes.

After a great deal of introspection and consultation, he said, he yielded to former UPP caretaker for All Saints West Barbara Coates’ request, and his return was enthusiastically welcomed.

This, Astaphan mentioned is sending a very wrong message to the people.

According to him, when you look around the region, many opposition parties revamped and became victorious.

Looking at the track record of Lovell, Astaphan minced no words in saying reflection must take place about the tenure when Lovell was Finance Minister.

“Harold Lovell was the minister when this country required rescuing by the IMF. So being able to talk good and sound educated is fundamentally different than being able to manage a country during a crisis. There are few who have shown they can do this, and Gaston Browne has shown that through covid and the Barbuda saga…the differences between Lovell and Gaston Browne is as different as night and day,” Astaphan added.

Since Lovell’s return many have speculated that there is a plan afoot for him to take back leadership and while, party officials have denied such allegations, Astaphan added he is quite intrigued to observe how exactly the UPP will deal with this matter going forward.