The opinions expressed in this section of the paper are individual points of view, allowing the contributors free rein to express themselves and do not in any way reflect an official position on the part of the VOICE

Prime Minister King’s Leadership

In the space of one year and two months the United Workers Party won a general elections; experienced the death of their political leader and prime minister; had brushes with the law via their ministers; fired one of their ministers from the Cabinet of Ministers; won a bye-election in Micoud North; give the impression that their ministers are united behind one leader, namely Stephenson King; nominated one person for leadership position; sworn in their second prime minister; raised the price of fuel; looks unable to stabilize prices on basic food and household items; come under serious pressure from the opposition St. Lucia Labour Party for almost every action taken as a government and is now trying hard to show a level of stability and governance.
The St. Lucia Labour Party on the other hand, in the space of one year and two months, had lost a general election in a rather humiliating fashion; gave the impression of unity and general support for their leader Dr. Kenny Anthony by voting him for another term as leader; embroiled in controversy over a security hut built on Dr. Anthony’s private property when he was prime minister and playing the role of an active opposition.
Why the comparison?
The comparison is imperative when one considers that it is these same two parties that will be contesting the next general elections and therefore how they conduct their affairs in their respective positions are important because this is how they will be judged by the electorate.
How good the opposition is at being an effective opposition matters and how good the government is at managing themselves and the affairs of the State are of extreme importance since these are what the electorate goes by when the time comes for them to do the audit of the two parties.
One could point to the time when the Labour Party was in power and say that the United Workers Party, at the time the opposition, was not an effective opposition, yet the majority of St. Lucians gave them the nod over the Labour Party. This seems to prove that it is not what the opposition does and says during the years leading to general elections that matters but what both parties say and do within the weeks leading up to general elections.
The above is not correct because history has proven that the leadership abilities and qualities of leaders of political parties do play a significant part in which party gets elected.
This time around a lot will depend on the leaders of the respective parties. The UWP’s convincing win over the SLP on December 11, 2006 came not as a result of any effective electioneering strategy coughed up by the party, but came as the result of a man – Sir John Compton. It is now a stated fact that when St. Lucians put the two leaders side by side to pick one to handle their affairs Sir John edged out Dr. Anthony.
Both men stood tall locally, regionally and internationally. Both men became leaders of the country when the country needed them, Sir John’s time being the sixties, seventies and eighties and Dr. Anthony’s time being the nineties and entering the 21st century.
St. Lucians stood at the crossroads in December 2006 having to choose between an aged lion which lacked the speed and strength of the chase yet experienced enough to avoid being overthrown by the strapping bucks in the Pride and one which had made inroads into its own Pride and was fast earning the respect of its followers.
St. Lucia chose experience over speed and strength the result of which is now clearly being seen.
From now until the election bell rings it will be Dr. Kenny Anthony versus Stephenson King, the former still has strength and speed and political savvy while the latter has yet to come into his own as a leader, has yet to show strength and shrewdness as a leader, and continues to give the impression of being a puppet leader whose strings are pulled by a few persons in his Cabinet and others outside.

With one year and two months already gone in his five-year term of governance leaving him with about three years and ten months to go Prime Minister King does not have much time to fool around. He needs to start changing the impression St. Lucians have about his leadership.
He needs to start breaking new ground, cut out his own leadership path. The signs are all around that while many will vote party there are those who will vote leadership, there are those who will vote the leader who pays attention.
Prime Minister King must learn that if anything else leadership positions and political campaigns test a candidate’s ability to think strategically and tactically and that as prime minister he must show that he has the ability to manage the country which by any fair judgment, is a very complex thing.
Comparing the year and two months after the last general elections, Dr. Anthony so far has proven to be the better executive of the two. As the Chief Executive Officer of their respective circles, Dr. Anthony’s circle being the St. Lucia Labour Party and the parliamentary opposition benches, and Prime Minister King’s being the United Workers Party and the Executive arm of Government, means that the prime minister has some catching up to do.
How Prime Minister King handles the issues in his Cabinet like the support of some of his ministers for the re-establishment of Rufus Bousquet to ministerial status, the Ausbert d’Auvergne matter and the rising cost of basic and needed food and household items will determine his status in the eyes of St. Lucians.
Fair to say it is too early to make any judgment calls on the prime minister but this does not preclude one from voicing certain observations.
For starters the prime minister must have the ability to see past party loyalty and hire the best persons for the job as performance will go a long way in boosting his image. He has to get rid of the hangers on, the loafers, and all those who hover within his periphery and that of government doing nothing but grabbing as much as they can for themselves, contributing nothing in the process.
The prime minister must show that he can put together a smooth-running administration. And that is very important.