Who Will Be President of The Senate?

The Saint Lucia’s Upper House of Parliament (Senate) will tomorrow sit for the first time since its president Stanley Felix was relieved of his senatorial duties almost two weeks ago.

When we went to press yesterday it was still unclear who will replace Felix despite the name of a long-standing female member of the Saint Lucia Labour Party, who is currently a Senator, was being bandied around as the one who will be the next president.

At the same time the possibility exists that a vote for Senate president may not be forthcoming at this sitting of the Senate and that the deputy president may very well be the one leading tomorrow’s proceedings.

Regarding the election of the Senate president the Constitution states that “When the Senate first meets after any dissolution of Parliament and before it proceeds to the dispatch of any other business, it shall elect a senator, not being a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary, to be President of the Senate; and whenever the office of President is vacant otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of Parliament, the Senate shall, not later than its second sitting after the vacancy has arisen, elect another Senator to fill that office.”

According to the parliamentary office a sitting of the Senate has been scheduled for Thursday, October 20th, 2022 with Papers to be laid by the Honourable Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information and Leader of Government Business and the Honourable Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training.

The Motions for consideration are as follows: 1. BE IT RESOLVED that Parliament do authorize the Attorney General to make an Order to declare that the 2020 Supplement to the Revised Edition of the Laws of Saint Lucia, as specified in the Order shall come into force on such date as may be appointed by such Order, as authoritative version of the law.

2. BE IT RESOLVED that Parliament by affirmative resolution approves the draft Value Added Tax (Amendment of Schedule 3) (No. 2) Order which amends Schedule 3 of the Act to

— (a) exempt imports of personal items, food, clothing, toys and other household consumables, contained in barrels for the period commencing from the 1st day of November, 2022 and terminating on the 28th day of February, 2023;

(b) exempt imports of toys, food supplies and care packages by a member of the House of Assembly for the benefit of children, the vulnerable and needy persons in the constituency of the member of the House of Assembly, for the period commencing from the 1st day of November 2022 and terminating on the 31st day of January, 2023.