When Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre confidently posited in an interview with a local reporter that he was “the most prepared” for the post than any predecessor, Doubting Thomases reacted like he’d just deposited a wild claim.
But anyone who’s followed the history and performance of Saint Lucian Prime Ministers since Independence will know – for sure – that PM Pierre is not only serious but justified in his claim.
Eternal critics will create reasons to take issue with PM Pierre, but any fair and honest examination of his level of preparedness, vis-à-vis all others, will reveal why he can confidently make that claim.
Sir George F.L. Charles and Sir John G.M. Compton led Saint Lucia’s colonial governments between 1951 and 1979, but neither was able to make or take sovereign decisions – and besides, Sir John had no experience (as a Prime Minister) when he took office, only serving in the post for five months before his United Workers Party (UWP) lost 12-5 to the then opposition Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP).
Saint Lucia’s nine Prime Ministers are Sir John Compton, Sir Allan Louisy, Winston Cenac, Mickey Pilgrim, Dr Vaughan Lewis, Dr Kenny D. Anthony, Stephenson King, Allen Chastanet and Philip J. Pierre.
Pierre’s confident claim became a clip that piqued some senses, but none of the usual suspects in the media has yet found the words, facts or figures to challenge it – far-less to prove him wrong.
Take a good look…
When Pierre became Prime Minister in 2021, he’d served for three terms in three SLP administrations — as a senior Cabinet minister and Acting Prime Minister in the SLP’s first two terms under Prime Minister Anthony (1997 to 2006) and as Deputy Prime Minister (and Deputy SLP Leader in the third (2011-2016).
By the time he took office after having won five consecutive General Elections as MP for Castries East, Pierre had -more than once- served as Minister for Commerce, International Financial Services, Tourism, Aviation, Infrastructure, etc.
He’d also been formally appointed to the position of Deputy Prime Minister during the SLP’s last term (2011-2016).
No other Prime Minister has had such long and varied earlier exposure and preparedness for the job.
Indeed, Pierre served the longest as Deputy Prime Minister before actually assuming the post – and (almost) everything he and his party and government had done since the July 26, 2021, General Elections qualify him to make his confident claim – and without fear of being proven wrong.
Take PM Pierre’s fourth consecutive budget presentation on Tuesday evening. During it, he provided facts and figures to support the $2 billion-plus Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure in the related Appropriations Bill.
Like with the previous three budget presentations, the Minister for Finance, Economic Development and the Youth Economy offered clear indications of what his government inherited, what has been done and where he plans to take the nation by this time next year.
He reported three consecutive terms of economic growth and lower unemployment — the latter to single digits for the first time in the nation’s 46-year history; he indicated debt payments were in good order while government expenditure increased, with plans also for income generation, but with no additional taxes.
His government’s plans to increase pensioners’ pay and better public servants pay, with the new affordable minimum wage legislation to help workers earn more, making the public service more attractive, spending more to encourage fruitful youth entrepreneurship, caring more for the elderly and creating a Sovereign Wealth Fund for rainy and stormy days.
Every ministry has planned projects for the next financial year (until next April) – from completion of outstanding projects like the Hall of Justice and the Millennium Highway to a new three-phased approach to end the driving blues on the Castries-Gros islet Highway and the de-silting of the Sir John Compton Dam at Roseau (after $59 million was paid by the previous administration for only eight percent of the de-silting done).
He also explained why the Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA) had to cancel a contract with a Taiwanese company for the construction of a new terminal building at Hewanorra International Airport (HIA) — and reassured the nation that the St. Jude Hospital will finally reopen, under his watch.
PM Pierre also announced the opening of several new hotels and the refurbishing of old properties within the next year, including a 1,500-room hotel in the north.
Everything the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance presented by way of future plans and projects reflected the kind of continuity that’s attended his administration’s concentration on delivering election promises for the nation’s benefit at every sitting of every session of parliament to ensure the government’s motto of ‘Putting People First’ is translated into making Saint Lucians feel and live better.
Even with General Elections officially due by October 2026 – and which the PM can legally call anytime with 21 days’ notice – PM Pierre assured that his administration has no intention to extend its present overwhelming majority mandate beyond its five-year term.
Of course, the perennial naysayers will want to distract from the genuine discussion by trying to debate whether the current SLP Leader is saying he’s ‘better’ than his predecessors.
But this is about ‘preparedness for the job’, so comparison of performance is out of the question as Pierre’s first term continues…
Indeed, not only is he proving he has been the most ready for the post, but PM Pierre is also showing his party’s readiness to again break with the past by winning another outstanding victory and proceeding into the necessary second term that most voters already openly and honestly admit they’re prepared to give him. Another term may well prove that he has been the best Prime Minister Saint Lucia has ever had.