The Honourable Dr. Kenny Anthony | |
---|---|
6th Prime Minister of Saint Lucia | |
In office 30 November 2011 –7 June 2016 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Deputy | Philip J. Pierre [1] |
Governor General | Pearlette Louisy |
Preceded by | Stephenson King |
Succeeded by | Allen Chastanet |
In office 24 May 1997 –15 December 2006 | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Deputy | Mario Michel |
Governor General | George Mallet Pearlette Louisy |
Preceded by | Vaughan Lewis |
Succeeded by | John Compton |
Personal details | |
Born | Laborie,Saint Lucia [ citation needed ] | 8 January 1951
Political party | Labour Party |
Spouse | Rose-Marie Belle Antoine |
Alma mater | University of the West Indies at Cave Hill University of Birmingham |
Kenny Davis Anthony (born 8 January 1951 [2] ) is a Saint Lucian politician who was Prime Minister of Saint Lucia from 1997 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. As leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party,he was Leader of the Opposition from 2006 to 2011 and returned to office as Prime Minister on 30 November 2011 following the 2011 election. [3] He left office after the SLP's defeat in the 2016 election and announced his resignation as party leader.
Anthony is a graduate of the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill and the University of Birmingham. In the Labour government that led the country from 1979 to 1982,Anthony was Special Advisor to the Ministry of Education and Culture from August 1979 to December 1980,then Minister of Education from December 1980 to March 1981. He was a member of the secretariat of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) from March 1995 [2] until he was elected leader of the Labour Party.
He became Prime Minister on 24 May 1997,a day after the SLP won parliamentary elections. While Prime Minister,he was also the Minister of Finance and Broadcasting. [4]
During his leadership and his party's reign,Anthony led St. Lucia to record development in tourism,infrastructure and general economic development. However,imbalances in the economic development,disenfranchisement and raising crime levels are challenges his administration had difficulty to tackle. Since he regained power in 2011 there has been an increase in the number of impoverish persons on the island. Together with much economic development came steady increases in violent crime at a rate higher than many neighbouring islands and that caused many to draw comparisons with Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
Kenny D. Anthony is an Honorary Member of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. [5]
In the general elections held on 11 December 2006,the SLP suffered a surprise defeat by 11 seats to 6 at the hands of the John Compton-led UWP. While the SLP lost the election by 5 seats,the popular vote margin was in fact very slim,just over 2000 votes.
Anthony himself won a handsome victory in his constituency,Vieux Fort South,winning by 627 votes,only a few less than in the SLP's landslide election victory. Anthony remained head of the party and assumed the role of Leader of the Opposition. [6]
An interesting twist to the 2006 elections saga is that many feel that St. Lucians went to the polls not to elect a new government but to ensure that there would be a tougher opposition as against the 16–1 majority that the SLP had previously enjoyed. In a fate of irony,voters perhaps over-compensated for the frequent poll reports and political pundits' predictions that the SLP would again win a third term with a 14–3 majority. Many feel that,had Anthony himself not latched on to those poll results,he might have been better able to convince his own supporters that they were not yet in the clear and to turn out to vote in larger numbers.
Further,the reaction of many voters to the crossing over of former UWP leader Vaughan Lewis to the SLP was not positive. Lewis was a staunch opponent of the Labour government and the former Prime Minister who had lost the elections to the SLP - albeit after being handed the post only one year before the fateful loss. Anthony and Lewis have both stated publicly that all the "bad blood" between them was now "water under the bridge".
In late July 2007,Anthony said that Compton's illness,caused by a series of strokes,and his inability to perform his duties - Stephenson King was named acting Prime Minister - meant that a new election should be held. [7] Anthony was head of the Commonwealth of Nations observer mission in the August 2007 election in Sierra Leone. He gave the election a positive appraisal. [8]
In March 2008,Anthony visited Cuba where he voiced his appreciation for its support of Saint Lucia. He toured Havana and Cienfuegos Province,and met with senior officials including First Vice President JoséRamón Machado Ventura. [9]
Anthony was returned to Prime Ministership on 30 November 2011 following the Saint Lucia Labour Party electoral win at the 2011 elections,winning 11 out of the 17 seats in Parliament.
Following the general elections on 6 June 2016 in which the SLP lost by 11 seats to six,Anthony announced that he would step down as party leader. He was re-elected in his constituency of Vieux Fort South and said that he would remain in Parliament. [10]
Politics of Saint Lucia takes place in the framework of an independent parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy,with King Charles III as its head of state,represented by a Governor General,who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party of the house,and the cabinet conducts affairs of state. The Governor General exercises basically ceremonial functions,but residual powers,under the constitution,can be used at the governor general's discretion. The actual power in St. Lucia lies with the prime minister and the cabinet,usually representing the majority party in parliament.
Sir John George Melvin Compton,was a Saint Lucian politician who became the first Prime Minister upon independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979,Compton served as Prime Minister three times:briefly in 1979,again from 1982 to 1996,and from 2006 until his death in 2007. He cofounded the conservative United Workers Party (UWP) in 1964;he led the party until 1996,again from 1998 to 2000,and again from 2005 to 2007.
The Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) is a social democratic political party in Saint Lucia. It currently holds 13 of the 17 seats in the House of Assembly.
Vaughan Allen Lewis,KCSL CBE,is a Saint Lucian politician and a former member of the United Workers' Party (UWP). He served for a brief period as the fifth Prime Minister of Saint Lucia following the resignation of John Compton. Lewis,a former director of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States,assumed the office of Prime Minister on 2 April 1996. He also served as Minister of Finance,Planning and Development,and Minister of External Affairs. In elections that followed on 23 May 1997,Lewis and the UWP suffered a huge setback,losing all but one of their seats in Parliament,forcing him to resign in favor of the leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party,Dr Kenny Anthony.
Sir (William) George Mallet GCSL GCMG CBE was a politician who was Governor-General of Saint Lucia and held a number of high offices in the island Saint Lucia,one of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Eastern Caribbean. Sir George served as the Minister for Trade,Industry,Agriculture and Tourism in the first post-independence government of St Lucia beginning in 1979. In later years,Sir George served as Deputy Prime Minister and was responsible for numerous government ministries including Foreign Affairs,Home Affairs and CARICOM Affairs.
Richard Frederick is a Saint Lucian lawyer and politician. He is the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Housing and Local Government. Fredrick made his debut in the 2021 Saint Lucian General Election,earning his seat for the Castries Central Constituency as an Independent candidate in the House of Assembly. He previously served in parliament from 2006 to 2016,and he was Minister for Physical Planning,Housing,Urban Renewal and Local Government.
Philip Joseph Pierre is a Saint Lucian politician currently serving as the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia since 28 July 2021. Pierre serves as the Minister for Finance,Economic Development and the Youth Economy. He is the Leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party since 18 June 2016. He has represented the Castries East constituency in the House of Assembly since 1997.
Marcus Neill Nicholas is a Saint Lucian politician who represented the Dennery North constituency for the United Workers Party (UWP) in the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia. He was also the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly.
General elections were held in Saint Lucia on 11 December 2006. The elections were fought between the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) and the United Workers Party (UWP),which between them dominated politics in Saint Lucia. The results saw the governing Saint Lucia Labour Party lose the election to the United Workers Party led by John Compton,which gained eight seats to hold an eleven to six majority.
Peter Lenard "Spider" Montoute is a Saint Lucian politician and former Minister and parliamentary representative for Gros Islet for the United Workers Party (UWP). Montoute lost his seat in the 2021 Saint Lucian general election to Kenson Casimir;this was a landslide victory for the Saint Lucia Labour Party.
Ezechiel Joseph is a Saint Lucian politician and former representative for the constituency of Babonneau and senator,for the United Workers Party in the House of Assembly. Joseph served as the Minister of Agriculture,Fisheries,Physical Planning,Natural Resources and Co-operatives in his 2016 - 2021 tenure. Joseph lost his seat in the 2021 Saint Lucian General Election dubbed a landslide victory for the Saint Lucia Labour Party.
Stephenson King is the former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia. He is the Senior Minister and Minister for Infrastructure,Ports,Transport,Physical Development,and Urban Renewal. King was the former candidate for the United Workers Party (UWP). He now represents the constituency of Castries North as an Independent candidate as of July 2021,after resigning from the UWP.
General elections were held in Saint Lucia on 28 November 2011. The result was a victory for the opposition Saint Lucia Labour Party,which won eleven of the seventeen seats. On 30 November 2011 Labour Party leader Kenny Anthony was sworn in as Prime Minister.
Emma Hippolyte,OBE is a Saint Lucian politician and Minister for Commerce,Manufacturing,Business Development,Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs. Hippolyte serves as the representative for Soufriere-Fond St. Jacques as a Member of Parliament. Hippolyte was a member of the Saint Lucian Senate from 2007 to 2011. She won the Soufriere-Fond St. Jacques seat in the 2021 general election. She lost the Gros Islet seat in the 2016 general election.
Allen Michael Chastanet is a Saint Lucian businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Saint Lucia from 2016 to 2021. He is currently the Leader of the Opposition of Saint Lucia and the political leader of the United Workers Party as well as the parliamentary representative for Micoud South constituency.
Hunter J. François (CBE) was a Saint Lucian lawyer and politician.
General elections were held in Saint Lucia on 6 June 2016. The result was a victory for the United Workers Party,which won eleven of the seventeen seats. On 7 June 2016 United Workers Party leader Allen Chastanet was sworn in as Prime Minister.
General elections were held in Saint Lucia on 26 July 2021,having been constitutionally required by 12 October 2021. Voters elected all 17 members of the House of Assembly. The result was a victory for the opposition Saint Lucia Labour Party,which won 13 of the 17 seats in the House,while the ruling United Workers Party lost nine of its eleven seats,its worst result since 1997. It was the fourth consecutive election in which the incumbent government was defeated.
Ernest Hilaire is a Saint Lucian politician who is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism,Investment,Creative Industries,Culture and Information. Hilaire also serves as the 1st Deputy Political Leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party. Hilaire serves in the House of Assembly as the representative for Castries South. Hilaire is the former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for Saint Lucia. He served in opposition from 2016 till the landslide victory of the Saint Lucia Labour Party in the 2021 general election.
Shawn Edward is a Saint Lucian politician and representative in the House of Assembly for the Constituency of Dennery North for the Saint Lucia Labour Party. Edward also serves as Minister for Education,Sustainable Development,Innovation,Science,Technology and Vocational Training. Edward won his seat once again at the 2021 Saint Lucian General Election. He is also the 2nd Deputy Political Leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party. Edward has not lost his seat since his entry in the 2011 Saint Lucian General Election.