As part of its ongoing Women in Politics Training CIWiL SLU, the Saint Lucia Chapter of the Caribbean Women in Leadership, held a mock election campaign that concluded with mock elections on the 31st of October, 2023. Returning Officer for the elections was Hon Claudius Francis, Speaker of the House of Assembly who has played a lead role in this training initiative for ladies in Saint Lucia interested in pursuing political office. A total of 43 women registered for this first cohort of training.
Following the mock elections campaign during which the ladies went through the process of creating a political party, two political parties were “registered”: the “Alliance Progressive Party” and “Helen’s Progressive Party” vied for elections. After a successful display of women in leadership and politics, with their power, resilience, vision and inspiration Helen’s Progressive Party (HPP) led by party leader Zena George emerged victorious.
In a statement after their victory the “Prime Minister”, Zena George of the Helen’s Progressive Party recounting the team’s preparation leading up to the election said, “Although it had its challenges, the process was wonderful, gaining strength from my team members, the combination of ideas, perspectives and of course learning from each other especially the more experienced women within the field. Thank you to all the members of my team and also to the organizers of CIWIL SLU for putting together such a beneficial programme, as it has been very knowledgeable and an eye opener to not only me, but to my other team members as we all shared the same beliefs.”
“Leader of the Opposition”, Chantelle Moise who led the Progressive Alliance Party in giving her experience said ” it was a very interesting journey. I give thanks to my team because I could not have done it without them and whilst our “party” did not win this election, that is okay with us. We will not stop the fight for equality for our people, a Saint Lucia, where all citizens especially our single parents and elderly can afford to live comfortably be able to afford food and their basic necessities.”
CIWiL Saint Lucia is indeed pleased with the interest and hard work that the ladies pursuing this 10-week training programme has committed to. For many, it has been a challenging journey. As the programme comes to an end, trainees will all experience first-hand what it means to be a Parliamentary Representative as each lady will have the opportunity to “shadow” their elected parliamentary representative in their constituency. CIWIL SLU is ecstatic with the support and relationship with the Office of the Parliament of Saint Lucia that has facilitated this training.
The training concludes with an ALL-FEMALE MOCK PARLIAMENT sitting on Wednesday 8th November, 2023 from 10:00 am in the Parliament Chamber of Saint Lucia where the elected parliamentarians from the mock elections will debate a motion in the Parliament. CIWIL SLU congratulates the ladies who have pursued this training and looks forward to continuing working to promote gender equality and women’s leadership in Saint Lucia to make a difference in the lives of Saint Lucians.