Choiseul-Saltibus Enters The Dawn of A New Day!

New direction

On June 6, 2016, Choiseul voted to change what passed over four and a half years for a semblance of parliamentary representation of its people. Some will say it was long overdue, while others on the other side of the divide will consider it a bad choice. Whatever it is – the people have spoken. For those that supported the losing side Dr. Steve Maraboli puts it nicely. “Be open enough to see opportunities. Be wise enough to be grateful. Be courageous enough to be happy.”

There appeared to have been a national dissatisfaction with the SLP – not with the candidates per se, but rather with Dr Kenny Anthony, the leader of SLP. A case in point – Webby, if I have it correct swung over to the UWP side this last election. Not because he does not like Lorne (they are relatives) but rather his dislike, to put it lightly, for Kenny Anthony, This was the mood expressed throughout the country. It even reflected in his constituency as well where the margin of his victory was minimal.

Lorne Theophilus

Lorne, the past parliamentarian gradually became unpopular with a number of his core supporters and this itself filtered down to the constituents. This was coupled with his irregular visits to the various constituencies. After handing Rufus his fair share of sticks during the 2006 campaign – ti canal, footpaths etc, Lorne went into the same infrastructural malaise which he so vociferously criticized Rufus for.

Lorne got it all wrong with his management style. I am not an expert on managerial skills but I sure can see when one is not working. Any candidate who has won in Polling Division I5, have always over the last elections won below 40. This time around a new comer Bradly Felix whooped Lorne Theophilus, the incumbent by 124 votes. Do you know why? Simple, his bluffs, his unkept promises, his 5 visits out of 1676 days of his tenure, and there was that notion he was only fighting for his political pension, was too much for the people to support him anymore.

Choiseul-Saltibus General Election results 2016

With reference to the figure on the left you will notice that about 60.03% or 5321 of 8864 of the registered voters turned out to vote the third largest turn out with Anse la Raye and Soufriere having turnouts of 60.91 and 60.59% respectively. Bradley secured 58.3% or 2995 while lorne captures 41.7% or 2143 of the votes cast. A comfortable lead of 852. There were 183 rejected votes. But in an earlier call to the electoral office as I started analyzing the statistics revealed as you will see at the bottom of the figure that 96% or 24 of the 25 ballot boxes have been counted. According to the electoral department they are in the process of inputing more data.

It is a new day for St Lucia! And the slogan “Change is coming” did hold its own during the General Elections. But Socrates says. “The secret of change is to focus all our energy, not on building the old, but on building the new.”  Yes, let’s get to work; focus our energies to build a new Choiseul-Saltibus and by extension a new St Lucia and forget the old. Let the petty partisan politics find no room in our chambers of development. Choiseul-Saltibus MUST put colours aside and RALLY WITH BRADLY in this dawn of a new day.