ST. LUCIA ELECTION RESULTS SPELL HOPE OF CHANGE FOR MANY ANTIGUANS AND BARBUDANS.
Many residents are expressing the hope that Antigua & Barbuda will see a change of government, after St. Lucia’s main opposition party racked up an overwhelming victory at the polls on Monday, July 26.
After one term in opposition, the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) won 13 of the 17 parliamentary seats and will form the next government of that country.
The incumbent United Workers Party managed to win only two seats: Those of outgoing Prime Minister Allen Chastenet and Bradly Felix.
Two independent candidates – Stephenson King, a former member of the UWP, and Richard Frederick, a self-proclaimed “Independent Labour candidate” – also emerged victorious at the polls.
Some political pundits believe that Chastenet’s handling of the pandemic might have caused his Party’s demise at the polls. Others have opined that he, himself, was not above board with his political dealings.
Meanwhile, across the Eastern Caribbean, many people are commending St. Lucians for their courage and for doing the region a huge favour by getting rid of Chastenet, to whom one person referred as an “Uncle Tom sellout of a prime minister.”
Here at home, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has hinted broadly at early elections; and, following the St. Lucia results, a number of people sent him this message: “GASTON BEWARE!”
And, like those who picketed the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday, some residents are asking Browne to “Call de election now.”
“Antiguans and Barbudans waiting to get rid of you and your bunch of renegades,” was one comment online.
