WHEN the People’s National Party’s (JLP’s) Richard Azan defeated the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP’s) Cliff Stone and the National Democratic Movement’s candidate Michael Stern to win the Clarendon North West seat for the first time in the general election of 2002, expectations were high.

Political watchers’ eyebrows raised immediately, as for many years, the Azan surname was thought to have been tied to the JLP.

To complicate matters for the aspiring politician, his cousin, also named Richard, was a prominent racehorse owner and trainer at Caymanas Park, and so both had to go out of their way to convince those who either knew or were aware of them, that they had not crossed career paths.

Richard Azan, the politician, soon received kudos for his work in the constituency and was even made a minister of state for transport and works when Portia Simpson Miller assumed leadership of the People’s National Party in 2006.

From wearing the tags ‘model MP’ and ‘hard-working politician’, Azan suffered what some analysts said then was a surprising defeat by Michael Stern, who had by then joined the JLP, in the 2007 national vote. It was a loss that contributed significantly to the JLP’s 32-28 seat triumph in the same general election.

But now, Azan told the Sunday Observer, he has picked himself up, dusted himself off and is again ready to take the trek back to Gordon House as an elected official.

“There was a breakdown in my organisation and there was a lot of money from the Labour Party that was available, and they fooled the people with a lot of promises that they will be giving them cars and all manner of things… these are the things that cost us the election,” a reflective Azan said in an interview Thursday.

The 47-year-old businessman, who operates out his birthplace, the town of Spaldings, is confident that the people of Clarendon North West will again give him the all-clear to defeat Stern.

“I believe that I showed them that I was sincere in staying in representational politics. I lost the general election, but I continued the work in the constituency by going up as the councillor candidate for the Spaldings division and becoming a councillor.

“I continued my political work in the constituency to build more trust among the people and also to expose their present MP about the amount of things that he told the people that were not true and promises that he made which have not been fulfilled.

“More people believe in me nowadays. There was no doubt that the people didn’t trust me, but they now have more confidence in me that I was serious about the constituency’s development. It was never about me, it was about the constituency and because of that they see that I was serious about building the constituency. Power is not everything. It is about how we go about building better communities within the constituencies,” Azan said.

Clarendon North West includes the main towns of Spaldings, Frankfield and Thompson Town, all thriving primarily off commerce. But other areas of the constituency, including Ritchies, Belcarres, Victoria, Coffee Piece, Sanguinetti, Nine Turns, Silent Hill, Carty Hill, Park Hall, Smithville and Wanstead, depend heavily on agriculture-based activities.

Azan believes that getting another chance to serve the people of the area as their MP would allow him to implement several projects that he said were cut after his loss at the polls during the 2007 general election.

“One of the projects that really need to be completed is the market at Spaldings,” Azan said.

“I started the construction of the market in 2006 and after the Labour Party took over in 2007, the project was locked down and has still not been completed.

“I put that as a priority that we have to complete the market in Spaldings, because the people who sell there have to do so in sun and rain, and I think that no human being should ever be dealt with that way. Some of the vendors lose everything, especially when it rains, as they have nothing like a roof to cover their products.

“The constituency is in need of so many things, including water and roads. In today’s Jamaica, we should not have so many communities without water.

“There are also a number of roads that we were able to start and when the JLP took over they were not finished, roads like those at Peat River, Carty Hill, James Hill, Main Ridge and Orange Hill.

“The basic school programme that I started, by upgrading them, has to be continued, because that is a key area of a community’s development. And in respect of agriculture, we have to find a way to help the farmers to get better prices for their produce,” he said.

For now though, Azan is seeking the mandate that he believes will make the difference in getting the projects completed and others started.

“I have all the confidence that the people have made up their minds and now is the time for them to pass judgement on my performance and the performance of Michael Stern.

“My constituents have been complaining about a lack of representation. From as far as I can recall, Michael Stern is the worst member of Parliament that North Western has ever seen.

“Our machinery is better oiled now, the organisation is in high spirits, the workers are well motivated and they know that you don’t win an election until election day,” said Azan, admitting that a shortage of money was hampering his election campaigning.

“Funding is one of my major problems. It is a big problem, because the ground is ready for us and we are building the organisation, but we really need some funds to improve things leading up to the 29th (Election Day). That is the major problem that’s holding back the things that we want to do now and the message that we want to send,” Azan said.

Describing himself as a man with a different approach to doing things, Azan said that he feels the only way to go is to maintain a level of honesty and sincerity with the people of the constituency.

“I will continue on the road of telling the people the truth, levelling with them, meeting with them, showing them what we can do from what we can’t do, without making any false promises,” he said.

“For example, you can’t tell people that you are going to build a road knowing that there are no funds, and you can’t say that you are going to build a school knowing that there is no money available.

“You have to be prepared to work with the community, to explain to them where we are going and how we are able to do a number of things. I think that working with the people and participating with them in discussions is the best way out for the development of this country,” he said.

In 2002, Azan beat Stone, and Stern, who represented the National Democratic Movement at the time. He polled 6,561 votes to Stone’s 5,877 and Stern’s 174.

However, Stern turned the tables five years later with a comfortable victory over Azan of close to 1,000 votes. The victor got 7,828 votes, and, though increasing his numbers that time, Azan managed 6,895. Some 14,786 people of the 21,004 on the list then voted in a 70.4 per cent turnout.

The constituency’s voters’ list for the December 29 poll has 24,495 electors.