Saint Lucia opened 2025 with an encouraging New Year Address by Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre last Sunday that promised more and better from the ruling Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) in the next two years of its current term. PM promised to continue to deliver on its 2021 election campaign promises, while doing more to follow its mantra of ‘Putting People First’.
The SLP held its first Tuesday Town Hall meeting in Dennery South last Sunday, where Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre expressed his understandable confidence that his party will win the next general elections.
He argued that people will (by election time) be in an even better position to compare five years under Labor and five years under the last United Workers Party (UWP) administration.
As per usual, His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition is ‘Opposing for Opposing Sake’ after its humiliating 13-4 defeat on July 26, 2021, which soon after metamorphosed into 15-2.
The UWP and its parliamentary representatives (in both Houses) have tried everything in the book on ‘How to Oppose’ – from calls for demonstrations to threats of taking the government to court over the Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP), to protests against crime.
But nothing has stuck, as every new government initiative also benefits opposition supporters, as Citizens of Saint Lucia.
The SLP and its Political Leader have every reason to be optimistic about winning the next elections.
But they also know, better than the UWP, the cost of over-estimating and under-appreciating some peculiar social, cultural and political factors — thereby under-estimating electors.
The SLP will therefore do well to do all to avoid complacency – and tame those supporters who continue to behave like they believe 2021 was just’ another change’ or simply ‘an exchange’, instead of the Real Change the Prime Minister and his Cabinet of Ministers intend it to be.
Saint Lucians are feeling the changes with every national budget presented and every national address delivered by the Prime Minister reporting on his government’s performance.
This Prime Minister was in the Cabinets of Ministers of the two Labour-led administrations (between 1997 and 2006) and will surely have learned the lessons from back-then, on the need to always encourage supporters at all levels to at-all-times avoid appearing to be ‘taking voters for granted’.
The SLP can easily be forgiven for wanting to win “all 17 seats” next time, but it will also do well to remember two things: (1) Elections aren’t won until the last vote is counted; and (2) All it takes a party to win and govern is a simple majority, even though ‘the more the merrier…’
Political parties across the English-speaking Caribbean’s former British colonies that have won all seats in elections under the Westminster System – in St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Grenada and Barbados – always eventually find out another inescapable reality: When you are at the top of the ladder, the only way up is down.
As such, the SLP will do well to be guided by the wisdom of fighting any return for the costly complacency that led to its defeat in 2006, in the most unexpected way.
Labour’s second loss a decade later (in 2016) resulted in its then-leader, former Prime Minister Dr Kenny D. Anthony, taking a principled position to immediately resign, passing the baton to his then Deputy Prime Minister.
The new party leader, in charge from Day One, admirably led the SLP into its biggest victory in the 21st Century.
Dr Anthony’s ‘backbencher’ role, as an elected Member of Parliament, is still overly misunderstood and/or largely under-appreciated by those of his colleagues who mistakenly feel his advice and admonitions ought not to be delivered in a public domain.
Unfortunately, some seem more interested in why Dr Anthony still isn’t in the Cabinet of Ministers, or whether his acceptance of the role of Deputy Speaker is a demotion or a downgrade of his political ‘kilikiti’, or whether he’ll contest the next general elections and win again.
Instead of duly acknowledging Dr Anthony’s long and illustrious legacy of public service — serving as the island’s effective Minister of Education in a Labour government in 1979 at a time when he was too young to hold the position and leading the party to victory and in office for two terms – he’s frowned-upon by those who simply don’t understand what a back-bencher is in the Westminster electoral and parliamentary system that still prevails across CARICOM.
Prime Minister Pierre and Dr Anthony both won their first elections in 1997 – and none ever lost for the next six consecutive elections; and they share an over -30-year record as re-elected MPs for Castries East and Vieux Fort South.
Saint Lucia started 2025 on the heels of a very inspirational and fruitful 2024, during which Julien Alfred brought home the island’s first two Olympic Medals from Paris on her first outing.
She was handsomely rewarded with national love and affection and international appreciation, introducing millions to the island and becoming not only its foremost tourism and sports ambassador but also, it’s the first time a national hero is supported by all Saint Lucians.
Saint Lucia will spend 2025 and the next four years — with the record of being home to the Fastest Woman on Earth, by Olympic standards.
The island’s performance in taking care of its business has also been admirable in 2024, so 2025 can only be better – except for unforeseen, unpredictable or unavoidable circumstances or situations.
The opposition can and should be expected to continue ‘opposing for opposing sake’ and appearing to be manufacturing reasons and excuses or not allowing members to democratically decide – as the SLP did in 2016 – on whether to get a new leader for its next general elections outing.
Meanwhile, thinking Saint Lucians continue to welcome every new measure announced by this administration in parliament, like in the three years before, their future remains in good hands that always seek to ‘Put People First!’