Independent candidate for St. George Gail Pero-Weston is calling for a fundamental shift in how government responsibilities are structured, arguing that infrastructure, healthcare and national development must be driven by the executive branch rather than individual Members of Parliament.
According to Antigua News Room, Pero-Weston made the case during a "Know Your Candidates" interview held ahead of the April 30 general election, challenging what she described as a deeply entrenched political culture that places undue burdens on constituency representatives to deliver basic services.
"I do not hold a view that an individual candidate or Member of Parliament is responsible for ensuring that infrastructure comes to a community," she said. "That is an issue for central government."
Pero-Weston, an attorney-at-law running as an independent, has built her campaign around governance reform and accountability. She contends that decades of weak executive oversight have allowed persistent national problems — including poor roads, inadequate drainage systems and limited access to healthcare — to go unresolved.
"These are not constituency issues. These are issues across the island," she said, arguing that the current model has produced repeated election-cycle promises with no lasting solutions.
Her proposal calls for a structural realignment in which the executive branch assumes full responsibility for planning and delivering development across all 17 constituencies, while MPs concentrate on advocacy rather than direct project intervention.
"I firmly do not believe that that is an issue that could be properly addressed by a single member of parliament," she said.
Pero-Weston also argued that the existing system breeds inequality, with certain constituencies receiving more resources depending on their political alignment or influence. She called for a more equitable, island-wide distribution of public investment.
"We do not live in isolation, one constituency from the next," she said. "The benefits need to be just the same way, widespread."
She further linked her governance position to a broader demand for integrity in public office, warning that without clearly defined executive accountability, the same failures will continue to surface at every election.
"If integrity in office is not fixed, we are going to have these discussions every single election cycle," she said.
While conceding that MPs would still play a vital role in advocating for their constituents, Pero-Weston maintained that the execution of development projects must remain the responsibility of central government.
Her position marks a clear departure from the approaches of candidates representing the two major parties, who typically campaign on delivering tangible constituency-level projects. Pero-Weston is contesting the St. George seat against candidates from the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party and the United Progressive Party.
