National Address by the Newly Elected Political Leader of the United Workers Party of Saint Lucia Allen Chastanet

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Address to the Nation
by Mr. Allen Chastanet, Political Leader of the United Workers Party
Wednesday, August 7th
, 2013
Good evening fellow St.Lucians. On behalf of all those who stood
with us, worked with us, prayed with us and shared the hopes and
dreams with the newly elected executive of our great Party, we
are honoured and humbled to accept the trust which you have
placed in us.
Today represents the beginning of a new day for the United
Workers Party and for our country. Today I declare that the
United Workers Party is going to endeavour to leave behind the
partisan politics which divides us and which prevents us from
realizing our full potential as a nation. We know it will not be easy
and we know that this requires the participation of the other
political parties in St.Lucia, but every journey starts with a first
step.We will strive to honour the ideals enshrined by our great
founder and leader,the late Sir John Compton who refused to play
politics when it came to the development of this country and
whose sole mission was to nurture and protect the public interest
of all St.Lucians, not just those who supported his party. In fact,

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supporters of the Labour Party. But in those days, we talked
politics and disagreed with each other politely and civilly -­‐ the
value of honest, differences of views and honest debate prevailed
and we were the better for it.
Over the past fifteen years, we have seen a marked move away
from this,
in a party winning,is not ideological or philosophical, but rather
personal and often, selfish. Party hacks abound, and they are
often rewarded with government posts both here and abroad,
lucrative contracts and other benefits, all paid for by us, the
taxpayers. And it is we, as a nation, who lose out. This
divisiveness which currently defines our country, and which places
us into red and yellow camps, must stop. It does nothing to
further our cause as a developing nation, and it erodes the civility
we have always extended to each other. Frankly, our people
deserve better than the maypwee and personal character attacks
which pass for political discourse, and they are demanding,
rightly, that our exchanges be about real issues that matter, the
issues which affect our welfare, as a nation, and as a people.

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No one can ever replace the great Sir John Compton, but we can
seek to execute the master plan, his vision, for our great country
a country where every St. Lucian has access to education,
healthcare, employment and a chance at success. This is the
vision that our party shares, and I declare to you today, that these
will be the guiding principles, on which our party bases its
philosophy and its actions moving forward.
This is not to suggest that we ought not support whichever party
we wish, in fact, this is our constitutional right and we must
exercise it, but we must exercise it in a manner which advances
ogress, and which ultimately leads to the
execution of goals, which make a better life for us and a brighter
future for our children. We must recognize that our vote is a
privilege; and we must exercise it in favour of those individuals or
that party which we feel will best represent our national interest,
and we must recognize, that each political party represents
merely, a different set of ideological and philosophical values and
goals. Demonizing and maligning members of the party, we do
not support, does not put money in our pockets or food on our
tables. And I say to members and supporters of the UWP, the
Labour Party is not our enemy, Kenny Anthony is not our enemy,

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his ministers and supporters are not our enemies. But we do have
enemies and our enemies are poverty, unemployment,
ignorance and apathy; and we must fight those enemies, with
everything we have, and we must march together against them
with great unity of purpose, for our common good. And where
we differ with our political opponents, in this case, the St.Lucia
Labour Party, we must take action to question, challenge and
where necessary, oppose any proposed measures which stand in
d right
now, there is much to question, much to challenge and much to
oppose.
As the new political leader of the United Workers Party, I count
myself fortunate to represent the political organization, that
under the stewardship of Sir John Compton, is largely responsible
for the modernization of the St Lucian economy and the evolution
of social services, that have significantly improved the quality of
life in St.Lucia. As such, at this time when St Lucia yearns to be
rescued from the grip of a Labour Party administration, which has
managed to turn the country upside down, in less than two years,
the patriots of our land can today find comfort in the commitment
of the UWP to complete the rescue mission. We have done it

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before each time we have been handed the task of cleaning up
in the wake of a Labour Party administration, we have risen to the
challenge and have left the country in a better position than we
found it. And for God and Country, I declare that we stand ready
to do it again.
We therefore commit ourselves, and the membership of this great
party, to a new order of leadership, competence and courage, in
the cause of progressive change, for our beloved nation. This is by
no means just a call to help win votes in a political campaign for
the seat of government. Much more than that, we are joining our
UWP brothers and sisters, and all the other patriots of this fair
land,in a crusade to restore the brightness of the St Lucian spirit,
which has undoubtedly dimmed under the dictatorial tyranny of
the Labour Party. Hopelessness and despair have replaced
optimism, and it is everywhere and when this sense of
hopelessness pervades our youth, which is commonplace
nowadays, we know we need to change something, and we need
to do it now. The business community, which is losing members
seemingly by the day, now finds itself without an ally in this
government, and we are all paying the price.

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Instead of offering creative and innovative solutions to the
economic problems which plague us, and to the ever-­‐rising rate of
unemployment, the Labour Party government has attempted to
throw dust in our eyes by suggesting that it has created
employment through STEP, NICE and Proud. While we all
appreciate the need for these social programs, they cannot
replace the need for an economic plan. More importantly, they
cannot jump start the economy.
Under my leadership, and the leadership of our newly elected
executive, within the coming months, the UWP will offer a
properly structured, well-­‐integrated, visionary, caring, innovative,
and agile organization, committed to the good governance of St
Lucia, and committed to the renewal of the country, as a nation,
responsibly earning its place in the international trade of goods
and services, and delivering the greatest good for the greatest
number.
The huge demonstration against the government that emerged at
the 2013 Calypso Season, left us with no need for any reminders
that change is no longer an option. No one needs to be fearful; no
one needs to feel threatened. Change must come because things

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cannot be allowed to get any worse than they are right now.
Every day that we become weaker, other countries become
stronger, and opportunities which present themselves today,
which we do not avail ourselves of, may not present themselves
tomorrow. On the strong shoulders of hope, we stand for change
that will ensure that this proud country will never again be asked
,
Many moons ago, the great English leader Winston Churchill
cautioned against the mistake of opening a quarrel between the
present and the past and thereby face the danger of losing the
future. Like Churchill then, our concern today must be with the
future. For the world has changed, and continues to change, and
many of the things we used to do in nation building, will simply
not work anymore.
Our Party and our Country need to press the reset button. Our call
today is for everyone who has lost confidence, who is fearful of
the future, but who wants something better -­‐ to get involved. To
our youth who are disillusioned with the political process, we are
committed to erasing your frustrations and cynicism. We have
taken the vital step of reactivating the Youth Arm of our party.

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They will be reaching out to youth around the island in the coming
weeks and months as part of the process of engagement.
We cannot soar and achieve our true potential as a people, unless
we address the issues of integrity, efficiency and values in our
system of Governance. The main business of any Government
must be to improve the standard of living of its citizens especially
with the poor and elderly. The trauma experienced by all Saint
Lucians since the advent of those false prophets who promised us
has left us all in a comatose and desperate state.
The economy is in a downward slide, a fact manifested in the
almost weekly loss of jobs, through lay-­‐offs, redundancies and the
outright collapse of business operations. In this small closely-­‐knit
society, most of us can relate to a family member, friend or
acquaintance who has become a casualty of this harsh season of
Our collective plight has not been helped by the rigid stance of an
insensitive Government, which continues with its cruel policy of
maintaining VAT on medicines, as though the prices on medicines
are not high enough, and unaffordable to many. This, despite
numerous and repeated calls by medical professionals and the

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public, for its removal. We would like to place the Kenny Anthony
Administration on notice, the United Workers Party will
collaborate with civil society to determine a collective course of
action. We have as a Party set a time clock, to ensure a total
removal of VAT on all medication within three months. Our aim is
to see the removal of VAT on all medicines, thus reducing the
current hardship of everyone, but especially the most vulnerable.
We along with many others, are shocked and dismayed that the
Prime Minister has yet to inform the Public or Parliament on our
commitments to ALBA. We have only read through Press releases
by ALBA that our Government has decided to join ALBA. I have
asked the Leader of the Opposition to write the Prime Minister
and to inquire on the details on the terms of this agreement. The
Prime Minister must appreciate that if he is obligating St Lucia and
all St Lucians, it must come to Parliament, especially if we are
borrowing money. Venezuela has recently announced a change in
terms from 1% to 4% interest rate, and from 40 years to 20 years
for re-­‐payment. We are also extremely concerned about the
potential fallout with our traditional partners such as the United
States, the United Kingdom and the OECS. ALBA members have
agreed to expel USAID, support Argentina over the Falklands, and

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previous
commitments, such as Rochamel and the Grynberg affair, made
without consultation and no Parlimentary approval, continue to
cost the taxpayers of St Lucia millions of dollars and contribute to
our increasing debt and decline in our financial ratings.
Despite a number of calls for disclosure the Government and
SLASPA continue to remain silent on the recent contract award for
the building of a Fixed Base Operation (Private Jet Terminal) at
Hewanorra Airport. We will continue to seek answers to the
following questions:-­‐
1. Did the review panel which awarded the contract comprise
persons with the related technical competence?
2. What was the composition of the review panel?
3. Did the composition give rise to any conflict of interest? and
4. Who were the people on the selection panel?

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Let me use this address, to request answers from the St Lucia
Labour Party Government, regarding the completion of the St
Jude Hospital Reconstruction Project. Saint Lucians need a clear
pronouncement on this matter. After almost two (2) years in
office, the Government owes us all a clear statement on the
conclusion date for
original home. We are concerned that the Doctors, Nurses and
Admin Staff who deserve the appreciation of all of us, are
frustrated and reaching their end. The UWP will be monitoring
developments concerning this project very closely, and will apply
the necessary pressures on behalf of the people of the South for
answers.
In order to move forward, we must align ourselves with the vision
of becoming the best, as one people and one proud nation,
enjoying a quality of life that is internally defined and not
externally imposed. Critically, we must generate the wealth that is
necessary to fulfill our goals. It means collectively determining key
goals and doing what we have to do, to make our country
competitive. At the same time, we must learn to prioritize and
select trade-­‐offs carefully, and be mind full of our mandate to
balance individual needs with the needs of the society.

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In this regard, I call upon the present administration to urgently
address the following issues:-­‐
the removal of VAT on ALL reading glasses for senior citizens;
the removal of VAT on all medication;
revisiting VAT generally with a view to a reducing the rate
what is the present status of the Hewanorra International
Airport Project;
full disclosure on how much money was collected on behalf
of the proposed HIA Project;
where is the money presently and how much of it, if any, has
been spent and on what;
it is true that a direct award has been given for the
resurfacing of the runway at the Hewanorra International
Airport;

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the status of the Castries Re-­‐development Project in light of
the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2011;
very important, what is the status of Post Hurricane Tomas
reconstruction projects; and
its reopening
We must step up and step forward for what is best for all of us.
We want to join hands, hearts and minds so that together we can:
eliminate distrust, wastage, selfishness, corruption and
apathy.
take responsibility for our future and demand more from
ourselves and our leaders.
create a common vision of what our country can and must
become so we can all live a better life.
eradicate poverty and illiteracy.
embrace democracy and appreciate the opportunity it
affords us; and

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accept the need for individual and collective responsibility.
The United Workers Party pledges to you, today, its firm support
to fight back against any measures proposed by the St. Lucia
Labour Party Government, which is not in the best interest of all
St.Lucians. We stand ready to provide, that which is sorely lacking
in this present administration, which is good governance, a vision
and the ability to deliver.
Thank you; God Bless you, and God bless St. Lucia.