By Staff Writer
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Dec 1, CMC – Representatives of three political parties and eight independents are on Monday seeking the vote of an estimated 180,000 voters, who are expected to cast their ballots at 285 polling stations scattered across St. Lucia.
The Electoral Department said it expects a free and fair general election in which the 44 candidates are seeking entry into the 17-member Parliament.
The ruling St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP), which won 13 seats in the July 26, 2021 general election, is again contesting 15 seats, while providing some level of support to two independent candidates in former prime miniser Stephenson King and Richard Frederick, both of whom had also contested the last general election as independent candidates and later joined the Phillip J Pierre administration.
The main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) is contesting all 17 seats, and under the leadership of former prime minister Allen Chastanet, it is hoping to turn around the results of the last poll, when it won only two seats.
The third political party, a husband and wife team of the National Congress Party, is not expected to have any major impact on the election on Monday.
The polling stations open at 6.30 am (local time) and close at 6.00 pm, unlike previous occasions when voters had a 12-hour window to elect their representatives.
The polls are being monitored by observer teams from the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Both Prime Minister Pierre and Chastanet addressed the nation in last-minute attempts to woo voters to their camps. They both said they were confident of victory, making reference to various programmes to further improve the socio-economic situation of the country.
In the last general election, where 174,332 people were registered to vote, the turnout was 89,049 or 51.47 per cent, and the Voice newspaper, the oldest publication on the island, urged voters to cast their ballots on Monday after indicating that the country had 1979 been recording a steady decline in voter turnout.
CMC/pr/ir/2025