Politics and government of Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia is a sovereign and independent country formed as a constitutional monarchy, maintaining King Charles III of the United Kingdom as its Head of State, who in turn appoints a Governor General to perform the tasks that would correspond to the monarch, the which are usually merely symbolic. Since November 11, 2021 the Governor General of the island is Cyril Charles. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is the president of the party that obtains the most votes in the legislative elections. Since June 7, 2016, the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia is Allen Michael Chastanet, President of the United Workers Party of Saint Lucia. The parliament is bicameral and consists of a lower house with 17 members elected for a period of 5 years and a Senate of 11 members, all selected by the Governor General according to the proposal of the most popular parties and civil society. The judiciary is headed by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, whose jurisdiction extends not only to Saint Lucia but to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Political parties

The main political parties are the Saint Lucia Labor Party and the United Workers Party.

The Saint Lucia Labor Party (in English: Saint Lucia Labor Party, SLP) was the winner of the first elections held on the island after winning its independence from the United Kingdom in July 1979. On that occasion he won 12 of the 17 seats in Parliament. In the early 1980s the island went through a major crisis and both the private sector and the unions forced the Labor government to resign in 1982. The SLP would not take the first magistracy until 1997 but would do so overwhelmingly, getting 16 of the 17 seats. In the last elections registered on the island (December 3, 2001) Labor won 14 of the 17 parliamentary seats.

The United Workers Party (in English: United Workers Party, UWP) has been the party that has remained in power the longest (16 years). Following the resignation of the Labor government in 1982, he secured 14 of the 17 seats in Parliament and appointed John Compton, who had been the island's Premier during British rule, as Prime Minister. On April 16, 1987, the elections were called again and the UWP won them again but occupying only 7 of the 17 seats, for which the Prime Minister suspended Parliament and called elections again for April 30, obtaining almost the same result (9 of 17 seats). In April 1992, the United Workers' Party tied its third consecutive victory, this time increasing its presence in Parliament to 11 seats. Compton would resign in 1996 to make way for his successor, Vaughan Lewis, who would lose the following year's election to Labor's new leader, Kenneth Anthony, a former Caricom officer. In the 2001 elections the leader of the party, Morella Joseph, could not even be elected to Parliament; Arsene James was elected leader of the caucus.

Other parties in St. Lucia include the National Alliance, NA, winner of 3.5% of the vote in the 2001 election; the party Sou Tout Apwe Fete Fini, STAFF and the Saint Lucia Freedom Party, SFP.