Tufton urges St Lucia’s Opposition party to change system

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has challenged St Lucia’s main opposition party, the United Workers Party, to not just seek to get elected but to lead a change in systems that are unresponsive or slow to improve the lives of St Lucians.

Tufton, the guest speaker at the party’s 60th anniversary grand gala event on Saturday, April 6, at Sandals Grande St Lucia, urged the party to pay attention to the needs of the people before seeking to satisfy bureaucrats.

“Be prepared to do what has never been done if your conviction tells you it’s the right thing to do and the greater good will be served even if it means disagreeing with traditional measurements of success. Lead to empower people in their communities and avoid the temptation to satisfy the local or international bureaucracies as indicators of success over the people’s needs,” Tufton said.

Getting the people to buy into their plans was critical to transforming a society, and leaders have to find ways to achieve this or risk failing to achieve change in real terms. Ultimately, Tufton argued, it is the people’s welfare that matters, ahead of multilateral or rating agencies, despite the importance of such agencies in global democracy.

Tufton also encouraged the incorporation of value-added pursuits and greater linkages from large industries such as agriculture and tourism to benefit citizens.

Regarding tourism, Tufton said a high level of tourist arrivals matched with a high dose of imported unprocessed foods is not the most capable transformational policy for Caribbean people.

“It creates jobs, and we must appreciate and celebrate that, but we may need more to really transform people’s lives through our tourism offerings,” the health minister said.

Speaking of CARICOM, Tufton said the regional body needs a reset around less policies, such as a focus on citizens training and worker retention, regional security, and advocacy to multilateral agencies for better deals for the Caribbean.

The United Workers Party, the main Opposition party on St Lucia, is led by 63-year-old Allen Chastanet, who served as prime minister from 2016 to 2021. The party currently has two of the 17 seats available, having lost the last general election in 2021.