Political Regression in Saint Lucia
Some of us are old enough to remember the politics of the 1970s and 1980s when John Compton, Allan Louisy, Julian Hunte and George Odlum were at centre stage. Even Peter Josie who in the 2020s has assumed a new political personality, featured heavily as a champion of the underprivileged farming class in those days which are long gone.
The Politics of Yesterday
Some of us are old enough to remember the politics of the 1970s and 1980s when John Compton, Allan Louisy, Julian Hunte and George Odlum were at centre stage. Even Peter Josie who in the 2020s has assumed a new political personality, featured heavily as a champion of the underprivileged farming class in those days which are long gone.
Back then political savvy resulted in strategic partnerships between foes. But it was more than that. Our leaders, coming from colonialism, acutely aware of the post-slavery pre-independence struggles and anxious to hold onto those gains, maintained a vision of common purpose for the building of a state. It resulted in a political culture of behind the scenes maneuverings aimed at strengthening teams at the national level for development and progress.
The Political Ace
Amongst them all, our deceased former Prime Minister Sir John Compton was ace at moving the players at the political chess board and he was a resolute mind. During the crises of the 1970s when Allan Louisy and others wearing red were a potent threat to Compton’s political future, Louisy’s brother, Dr. Graham Louisy was Cabinet Secretary. As Cabinet Secretary, Louisy was privy to conversations amongst policy makers and provided advice to the executive. Public pressure for Compton to fire Louisy (to which Compton did not succumb) caused no breach between the two men. And in the final analysis amongst politicians Compton came out on top.
Eating Humble Political Pie
Compton’s inclination to think beyond the political fence prevailed upon him once again in the 1980s when a crisis arose at the Victoria Hospital when a vacancy for an x-ray imaging specialist went unfilled.
At the time John Compton of the United Workers Party and George Odlum of the Progressive Labour Party were embroiled in very public political warfare. This did not stop Compton from calling George Odlum’s sister who is a retired x-ray specialist back to work. “Your country needs you,” was his simple and irresistible entreaty. She accepted his offer to stand for country over man.
More than a decade later Compton’s popularity had waned and he continued to eat humble political pie. There was a vacancy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a Saint Lucian post-cold war ambassador to the United Nations. Compton offered and Odlum accepted the post but the two men were not friends. At the next general elections in 1997 they remained on opposite sides.
Compton, to be fair, was a patriot and a political heavy weight of a resolute mind, able to influence others to aim for the national purpose. There are few patriots left in the politics of Saint Lucia today. In today’s Saint Lucia, finding a leader willing to sacrifice self for country is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
The Politics of Today
The politics of today is from an entirely different cosmos. The mostly low breed politicians of this era aim for riches and power. Political partnerships are of a different sort. The landscape is strictly red for Labour or yellow for UWP with no orange in sight.
Mayor of Castries Peterson Francis and his brother Senator Minister of Home Affairs and National Security Hermangild Francis are two politicians who once wore red and now wear yellow. Their broke from the SLP before the last general elections after their bids to contest constituencies on party tickets failed. The brothers switched their allegiance to UWP, endorsed the party and waited.
When Allan Chastanet became Prime Minister of Saint Lucia in 2016 Peterson Francis and Hermangild Francis were quickly added to government’s payroll. Whether they anticipated or even negotiated the appointments is not known but neither of these men would have been appointed to government posts if they had not switched to the UWP.
Out with Westminister
This thick political line that draws the divide between the parties is largely due to our system of government inherited from Britain. The incestuous relationship between our legislative and executive arms of government makes standing across political lines seemingly unnatural and even impossible. A minister of government must be a lawmaker in parliament and with each MP from the ruling party holding a post in cabinet, there are no back benchers to apply internal pressure to the prime minister on behalf of the people.
The Curse of the Colours
Today we find ourselves in a country that the youth are best advised to fight like hell for or get the hell out of. If the colours remain just red or yellow there will be no hope of good government. If change doesn’t happen crime will increase, hopelessness will prevail and the promise of tomorrow will be but a dream.
