Pierre’s No-Confidence Motion Faces Steep Climb

It would be somewhat understandable if the SLP at any time placed the success of its no-confidence motion on the shoulders of Stephenson King, given the nature of his ouster as the UWP’s lead man at the hands of Allen Chastanet and the possibility that there may still be disgruntled MPs on the government side who publicly sided with King during that fight for the leadership of their party. After all, three swing votes are all that would be needed. 

Opposition Leader Philip J. Pierre has said on numerous occasions that the success of his motion does not hinge on what government MPs choose to do. But then, if not, what would be the point? Could Richard Frederick have been speaking for himself only, when he promised, from a so-called “people’s platform” set up by the SLP, that come Christmas 2018 Saint Lucia would have a new prime minister?  

Stephenson King, Infrastructure Minister, after thanking the UK government, his fellow ministers, chief engineer Albert Jn Baptiste and FDL Consult Inc for their contributions to the road projects about to get underway, reserved for his prime minister these special words: “I take special honour in thanking you for recognising the significance and the strategic importance of the redevelopment of the Millennium Highway and West Coast Road when it was proposed to the UK government.”

As for the prime minister, he took the opportunity to wax lyrical about King, noting along the way that “his experience as a former Minister of Finance, his experience in overseeing the EU Hospital, I thought placed him particularly well to be heading up the Ministry of Infrastructure.” 

The prime minister further declared: “We are going to see the greatest injection of capital into this ministry in the history of Saint Lucia.” The PM clearly wanted King and others to know he recognises the value of his Infrastructure Minister and, in the circumstances, the need to keep him happy. 

The proceedings on Wednesday afternoon were fairly nonpartisan, with one glaring exception: “I must indicate that prior to the agreement to redevelop the Millennium Highway and West Coast Road, the former administration wanted to invest the resources in the North-South link road, which would have been far too little to even commence consultancy on that major project; the North-South link road being a master vision plan which preliminary costs indicate some US $600 million . . . ”—These the words of Castries North MP Stephenson King, as if to remove any lingering doubts as to where his loyalties lie.

Earlier this month, King had given his two cents’ worth about the contentious no-confidence motion in Guyana: “Such situations are always wake-up calls and leaders cannot lead by just simply taking a course without consultation . . .” 

And while that may have provided a sliver of hope to persons of a certain political persuasion in this country—that the prophecy of Allen Chastanet’s downfall had simply been delayed by a month—the very public display of affection this week by the two lead actors in Pierre’s play suggests counters of chickens long before they are hatched.

We have a political environment here that’s very different from that of Guyana, meaning that an 11-6 deficit was always going to be too much to overcome with a no-confidence motion. Then again, in politics who can be certain about anything?