By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY., Thurs. July 29, 2021: St. Lucia has a new prime minister. Philip J. Pierre was sworn in at around 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon by Governor-General Sir Emmanuel Neville Cenac, two days after his St Lucia Labour Party won the July 26th election by a landslide 13 seats.
In his inaugural address, Pierre promised not to fail the people of St. Lucia and to be a prime minister for all of the people.
“The Saint Lucia Labour Party has won the general elections, however we now have to manage an inclusive, equitable and just society,” Pierre asserted after taking the oath of office.
He added: “I will not fail you. I thank you for the opportunity to serve. I won’t do it alone. I will seek the counsel of the wise and if you stand firm with me, together, we shall not fail.”
The new PM also asked for “patience in the coming weeks and months,” saying his government will need “to try to assess the state of the country’s financing and capacity to deliver as early as possible the commitment made to the people of St Lucia.”
And he expressed the belief that Saint Lucia can be an island where dignity of the human person is preserved and respected and citizens are treated equally, while being given the opportunity to grow and achieve their full potential.
Outgoing Prime Minister Allen Chastanet of the United Workers Party on Tuesday, had congratulated Pierre, but said the results of Monday’s general elections has come as a “shock.”
The UWP won a mere 2 seats. The two other of the 17 seats were won for the first time by independent candidates.
Among them is the former prime minister Stephenson King, who quit the ruling UWP to contest the Castries North constituency, which he has been representing for nearly three decades as an independent. And independent candidate, Richard Frederick defeated the incumbent Foreign Affairs Minister, Sarah Flood Beaubrun in the Castries Central seat.
