Chronicles of a Chronic Caribbean Chronicler By Earl Bousquet

Funny things always happen in Caribbean elections politics, but perhaps the most-hilarious to date is how Saint Lucia’s Opposition United Workers Party (UWP) continues living in its La-La Land of Denial, like it was never booted-out of office in July 2021 in its worst elections defeat in Century 21.

After twice holding 11-7 majorities in the House of Assembly (2006-2011 and 2016-2021), the electorate rejected 15 of its 17 candidates in the last elections — and left only two opposition MPs (including the leader) to steer the sinking ship through the roughest waters it’s faced since its humiliating 16-1 defeat in 1997, by the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP), under Dr. Kenny D. Anthony.

Unlike Dr Anthony who immediately resigned on the same night his party lost after the results were declared in 2016, UWP Leader Allen Chastanet took a long vacation after his party’s complete 2021 defeat, before returning late to start parliamentary duties.

On his return, Chastanet doubled-down in a manner that made it quite clear he had no intention of waving a white flag or passing the torch.

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In its first four years in this opposition term, his party has suffered its own internal disunity convulsions and haemorrhages from loss of support to the SLP by those wanting a leadership change and/or attracted by the government’s positive handling of the economy under Prime Minister Pierre’s leadership.

This administration has made the island’s legislature a model platform for implementation of elections promises.

For over 48 times since 2021, every meeting of the House of Assembly and the Senate has featured elevation of party promises to national policy, to benefit all — and not just some.

But for all that time the UWP has become more of itself under the continuing leadership of the current Leader and Deputy Leader: a party struggling to regain support it once had.

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Its leadership blames COVID-19 for its way-below-par performance during its last five-year term, but voters tend to more remember how ‘COVID police’ hounded citizens bathing in rivers for breaking restrictions protocols – and most refuse to forget the payment of $7 million from the Treasury to purchase COVID vaccines that were never for sale.

Barring the disastrous economic management of the repercussions of the Supply Chain crisis that followed COVID and the sanctions imposed on Russia (and the rest of the world) by the USA and Europe over the Ukraine war, many also remember the UWP’s last term went beyond five years.

However, today, with this Prime Minister having more-than-a full year to go to the constitutional limit for the next general elections (by October 2026), the UWP is pressing the Prime Minister to “Call elections now!”

As if it knows the election date, the UWP has hurriedly chosen its 17 elections candidates and demanding the Prime Minister shorten his government’s term, simply to allow for a short campaign.

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Of course, the UWP leaders will wish the election is called before the grand opening of the St. Jude southern regional hospital that burned under their watch — all of 16 years ago, on September 9, 2009.

In five years, this Pierre-led Cabinet that includes two prominent former top UWP cabinet ministers (including a former Prime Minister) who contested as independents (but their old party was unable to defeat in the 2021 elections) has achieved what two UWP administrations and three successive governments failed to — and two involving the current party leader.

This administration promised to deliver on its campaign promise to build a complete St. Jude hospital – and it will, possibly before elections.

The UWP today is continuing to scrape the bottom of the traditional pork barrel for new chicken-and-rum approaches to old election campaigning, opposing for opposing sake and refusing to acknowledge simple everyday facts of Saint Lucian life under this administration.

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For example, UWP supporters also benefit from the government keeping prices of cooking gas, gasoline and basic food prices basically the same since taking office in July 2021 by absorbing extra costs through generous subsidies.

This government has created the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to maintain many other subsidies, to pay outstanding Public Service wage increases (with added holiday bonuses), increase government and police pensioners’ monthly benefits and raise public assistance payments.

In addition, there are many outstanding or stalled national infrastructure projects now being undertaken — from the Halls of Justice to highway expansion, development of deep-water ports and acceleration of progress toward completion of the Hewanorra International Airport (HIA) – while presiding over the lowest annual unemployment and highest employment rates ever recorded.

The UWP has launched a dazzling smoke-and-mirrors campaign using online and AI features to offer IT-generated images that make its weekend public rallies look much-bigger than they are – including one from last Sunday showing a massive crowd several-times larger than the actual community playing field.

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That’s to be expected from any opposition party with nothing much to show by way of achievements records — to wildly promise to ‘do better’ everything good this government has done (saying they’ll reduce taxes, clean-up corruption, eliminate crime – even promising to get permanent visas for Saint Lucians now lined-up to be deported from the USA.

For the UWP to expect anything but laughter in response to its calls for a rushed election (even if only to cut on one year’s campaigning costs), is ridiculous and out-of-place, coming from a party almost totally rejected by the electorate just over four years ago.

The party’s leadership continues living in the submerged denial of The Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’, while citizens naturally prefer to await the end of the government’s full term, so it’ll continue delivering the goods like-never-before for at least another year– and then seek a second term.

Alas, the opposition party still has to wait until the only man who can ring the bell decides the time has come – Prime Minister Pierre.

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And that’s the bottom line!