INDEPENDENT candidate Stephenson King and Green Party Deputy Leader Aaron Alexander have taken swipes at Jeannine Giraudy-McIntyre, the United Workers Party (UWP) candidate for the Castries North contest in the July 26 general elections.
Giraudy-McIntyre last week claimed that a vote for King is a vote for the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) as there are no independents in the elections.
She went on to question the timing of King’s departure from the UWP calling it “peculiar” and mentioned King as a protégé of her father, co-founder of the UWP, deceased Henry Giraudy.
King on Monday told reporters that Giraudy-McIntyre accused him of betraying the party.
“The young lady who claimed that her father mentored me and mentored her, in the 35 years that I have been in politics starting from the formation of the United Workers Party (Youth Arm), she was nowhere around during the time the poor children of Saint Lucia galvanized the country. At that time I was 22 years of age when I formed the United Workers Party (Youth Arm),” King said.
“Jeannine Giraudy was never part of the formation, she was never part of the foundation of the United Workers Party youth arm and was never part of anything to do with politics at the time,” King added.
He said Giraudy-McIntyre was trying to gain some level of credibility by associating herself with her father. He added that her father had no input in his decision to enter politics.
“I got into politics out of a need to join Sir John Compton, Sir George Mallet and Allan Bousquet whose children were the only children involved in the formation of the youth arm of the United Workers Party,” King said.
He said the UWP of today has betrayed the principles of the UWP of yesterday, the philosophy of the UWP and the good intentions of the founding fathers and that the new UWP is just attempting to occupy the shell of a crab.
King is of the view that if Giraudy-McIntyre truly cared, she would have never accepted the UWP’s offer.
Stephenson King is not the only one who has an issue with Giraudy-McIntyre, however, The National Green Party also responded to comments made by the UWP candidate. According to Aaron Alexander, the Deputy Leader of the NGP, “the NGP felt insulted” when Giraudy-McIntyre told supporters “any vote that is not a vote for the UWP, is a vote for the Saint Lucia Labour Party.”
“This sort of statement is ignorant, reckless, undemocratic, unfortunate and disrespectful. It seems to suggest that only the United Workers Party and the Saint Lucia Labour Party are the legitimate parties in Saint Lucia. This gang culture, the red and yellow gangs, this is exactly what the National Green Party is coming to free Saint Lucians from,” he asserted.
According to the leader, a number of individuals are disappointed in both parties as many people did not vote in the last election. He also said the NGP has no affiliation with the SLP or UWP.
“Let’s face it, the vast majority of Saint Lucians don’t even vote. In the last election just about 47% of the people voted so there’s a large pool of persons who do not support any of those parties and the NGP will make headways with those persons because those persons are totally disenchanted with what’s going on with those two political parties. Madame Giraudy-McIntyre, with your maiden speech, you have crashed and burned,” he said with great annoyance.