As the reigning United Workers Party prepares itself for the March 9th convention, speculation as to the outcome runs rife. At the centre of the discussion looms the figure of former Foreign Affairs Minister Rufus Bousquet, the most likely and plausible contender to take on Stephenson King in a head-to-head battle for the political leadership position.
The following piece, written by Rebecca Miller, gives something of an insight as to what has been taking place in the arena ever since convention fever began to heat up, with a description of the events that have contributed to the creation of the present atmosphere leading to the convention, as they affect and are affected by Mr. Bousquet.

Bousquet says ask the PM
By Rebecca Miller

“Champing against the bit as a new-yoked colt, you struggle and fight against the reins.”-Aeschylus (525-456B.C.) Greek tragedian, Prometheus Bound 1.1009.
For quite some time now the air has been filled with aspersions directed towards former Foreign Minister Rufus Bousquet. He has been labeled a trouble maker even to the point where some have openly accused him of causing the death of Sir John. On certain call-in radio broadcast programs, his character has been sullied, it has been suggested that his political ideas are not good for St Lucia. He has even been branded a “traitor.” Throughout all the anger and accusations hurled at him, Bousquet has stood his ground and remained silent until now. According to him, no one really knows what caused Sir John’s health problems.
As to why he was relieved of his position. Bousquet denies that it was as the result of his part in a rebellion against the authority of former Prime Minister Sir John Compton to establish diplomatic ties with Taiwan. He claims that he has no idea why he was dismissed. In a news broadcast, Bousquet said that the he had had no communication with Sir John since the day of his departure for treatment overseas and none during the days leading up to his passing and therefore is not convinced that it was Sir John who had given him the boot.

Amid suggestions by the Opposition Leader Dr Kenny Anthony that the infamous letter of dismissal was sent by someone else on behalf of the Prime Minister, and that the Governor General might have had some part to play in the whole matter. “Could it be that someone wrote a letter and took it before Sir John for signature?” Dr Anthony suggested; but Bousquet is dubious. Although he expresses disbelief that the Governor General was in any way involved in the issue of the letter with reference to his dismissal he intimates that he would surely like some answers. Therefore, he has called on the Prime Minister to clear the air on the reason for his dismissal.
Meanwhile, many government supporters are saying that the leader of the Opposition is grasping at straws and will make wild suggestions, especially those that may adversely affect the government. In the case of Bousquet, one UWP stalwart says that Dr Anthony’s ideas in relation to the former minister’s dismissal is just a way to question the integrity of the government and to pull Bousquet into the SLP camp. How so?
Frederick Douglass, an American abolitionist wrote, “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will.”
But many people think that if Bousquet has rebelled in any way against the authority of the regime, he was well within his rights. “All men should have a drop of treason in their veins, if nations are not to go soft like so many sleepy peers.”–Rebecca West, (1892-1983), British Author, “The Meaning of Treason” (1949).