St Lucia
Country in the West Indies, in the E Caribbean Sea, one of the Windward
Islands.
Government
The constitution dates from independence 1979. The governor general
is the formal head of state, representing the British monarch. The governor
general appoints a prime minister and cabinet, drawn from and responsible
to the assembly. There is a two-chamber parliament comprising the Senate,
of 11 appointed members, and the House of Assembly, of 17 members, elected
from single-member constituencies by universal suffrage. Six senators
are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister,
three on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and two after wider
consultation. Parliament has a life of up to five years.
History
The original inhabitants were Carib Indians. Columbus arrived 1502.
The island was settled by the French 1635, who introduced slavery, and
ceded to Britain 1803. It became a crown colony 1814. Independence St
Lucia was a colony within the Windward Islands federal system until
1960, and acquired internal self- government 1967 as a West Indies associated
state. The leader of the United Workers' Party (UWP), John Compton,
became prime minister. In 1975 the associated states agreed to seek
independence separately, and in Feb 1979, after prolonged negotiations,
St Lucia achieved full independence within the Commonwealth, with Compton
as prime minister. The St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) came to power 1979
led by Allan Louisy, but a split developed within the party, and in
1981 Louisy was forced to resign, being replaced by the attorney general,
Winston Cenac.
Soon afterwards George Odlum, who had been Louisy's deputy, left with
two other SLP members to form a new party, the Progressive Labour Party.
During the next year the Cenac government had to fight off calls for
a change of government that culminated in a general strike. Cenac eventually
resigned, and in the 1982 general election the UWP won a decisive victory,
enabling John Compton to return as prime minister. In the 1987 general
election, Compton's UWP was only narrowly returned by a 9:8 majority
over the SLP, but it went on to win its fourth consecutive victory in
the 1992 general election. In Sept 1991 representatives of Dominica,
St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada proposed federal
integration of the Windward Islands.
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