Pierre to Gov’t: Dissolve the House and call General Elections

Opposition Leader Philip J. Pierre on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Allen Chastanet to call elections. Pierre issued the plea at today’s House of Assembly sitting, where he opened the debate on the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2021/2022. During his contribution, the Castries East MP took the government to task over a myriad of issues, including its priorities, the healthcare sector and economy. (View the LOO’s full presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I1U2sPglvA ).

At the tail end of his contribution, Pierre stated that citizens have become frustrated. “They [citizens] do not see any hope for them in these Estimates of Expenditure,” he said.

“There is no hope! They do not believe that these Estimates of Expenditure will help them with the trying times ahead. They do not see any hope that these estimates will improve their healthcare… The small shop owner sees no hope in these estimates that their life is going to be improved.”

He went on: “These estimates are just a set of figures presented by a government that has lost its way; a government that believed that four years was forty years, now they are on the fifth year they have realised that the time of reckoning is nigh. Now, they have to account to the people of Saint Lucia.

“I cannot support these estimates! We cannot support these estimates! And we call on the government to dissolve this honourable house and call general elections for the people of Saint Lucia to decide on the fate of their country,” Pierre declared.

Despite Pierre’s call for a general election, to date the Saint Lucia Labour Party has not named candidates for Castries Central and Castries North.

You can view the ongoing debate here: