KENNY ANTHONY’S RESIGNATION as political leader of the St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) and his decision not to serve as leader of the opposition following the defeat of his party in the June 2016 general election in St Lucia provide an assessment of his political contribution.
Too often are our political leaders, once defeated, erased from history, leaving future generations deprived of learning opportunities and historical understanding which could aid their own future efforts.
To fully appreciate Anthony’s historical contribution, it should be remembered that prior to his emergence as the SLP’s leader in 1996, the party had been weighed down by the ghost of its ignoble 1979-1982 premature collapse, in its last term in government, following a bitter leadership struggle between Allan Louisy and George Odlum. Anthony must therefore be credited with exorcising the ghost of 79/82, and making the SLP electable.
His election in 1997 was part of a general re-emergence of left-of-centre political leaders after years of marginalisation in the wake of the collapse of the Grenada revolution. The elections of the St Kitts’s Denzil Douglas, Dominica’s Rosie Douglas and St Vincent’s Ralph Gonsalves were shaped by the same historical moment.
Whilst it can be argued that Anthony’s SLP’s restructuring was too much a carbon copy of Britain’s Tony Blair’s New Labour, it proved eminently successful, resulting in the largest electoral victory for any party in St Lucia (16-1).
Future historians will credit him with transforming the St Lucian economy from banana dependency to tourism and services. Having inherited the government following a protracted period of banana protests in a context of global trade liberalisation, Anthony effectively managed a political economy transition, without any major social dislocation. He introduced universal secondary education, modernised the health services and generally advanced previously ignored social development.
Finally, he advanced St Lucian democracy. Paradoxically, one month before his defeat, St Lucia was ranked No. 1 in the Americas for press freedom by US-based watchdog Freedom House. Among other things, he introduced a run-off system for selecting candidates and introduced the Integrity In Public Life Act. His resignation following his second electoral defeat, in keeping with his democratic temper, was a demonstration, by example, of mature democratic conduct.
His defeat, however, can perhaps be explained by a general timidity to act boldly on his convictions. Where others moved with haste on ALBA and Pertocaribe, he hesitated. His sophisticated intellectualism resulted in huge gaps between himself and his public. He perhaps walked too far ahead of the people. He was respected far more than he was loved. Where men of lesser ability or genuine commitment were tolerated, he was afforded no such comfort.
He can walk away from political leadership with the quiet assurance that history will show a deeper appreciation of his contribution than his public was ever able to reach.
• Tennyson Joseph is a political scientist at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, specialising in regional affairs. Email: tjoe2008@live.com