Vaughan Lewis

Dr. Vaughan Lewis (born 1940) is a Saint Lucian politician and a former member of the ruling United Workers' Party (UWP). He served for a brief period as 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 April 2 1996. He also served as Minister of Finance, Planning and Development, and Minister of External Affairs. In elections that followed on May 23 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.

Compton defeated Lewis for the UWP leadership in a party conference in Soufrière on March 13 2005. Compton received 260 votes against 135 for Lewis. ["Ex-prime minister regains leadership of St Lucian opposition", Caribbean Media Corporation (nl.newsbank.com), March 14, 2005.]

Following this defeat, Lewis felt compelled to resign from the United Workers Party and joined the ruling Saint Lucia Labour Party. On 7 September 2006, the executive of the Saint Lucia Labour Party endorsed Dr. Vaughan Lewis as its candidate for the Castries Central constituency in the December 2006 general election.

Lewis' defection to Labour has been controversial. After losing two general elections in a row, Lewis had the opportunity to win the Castries Central seat in a February 2006 by-election. He then told UWP supporters first that he was the endorsed candidate. He then told them that he was taking time to make up his mind. Finally, he quit the UWP all together and said that he was no longer interested in electoral politics. However, Lewis had been in talks with high ranking members of the St Lucia Labour Party about his defection since he was defeated by Compton in the leadership contest.

More troubling for Labour's top strategists was the fact that Lewis had brought Desmond Brathwaite into the party with him. Brathwaite is best known as the Women's Affairs Minister who was charged with kicking his wife down a flight of stairs in 1994. He was terribly unpopular but became so close to Lewis in 1996 that when asked why he didn't drop Brathwaite for political reasons, Lewis replied, "I'd rather lose with Brathwaite than win without him." It lead to the most crushing defeat in St Lucian political history.

On the face of it, Labour put up a good front, hailing Lewis, the same man they had previously ridiculed as an uncontrollable drunk in 1997, as a great Caribbean citizen and intellectual who was betrayed by Sir John Compton.

Lewis failed in his bid to win the Castries Central parliamentary seat from the UWP candidate Richard Frederick in the 2006 general elections held on December 11. In his inaugural speech to the nation after he was sworn in as the island's Prime Minister, Sir John Compton promised that there would be no victimization from his new government.

See also

* List of Prime Ministers of Saint Lucia
* United Workers' Party (Saint Lucia)
* Politics of Saint Lucia
* Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

References