Tensions flared in the House of Assembly on Thursday as Prime Minister Philip J Pierre delivered a sharp rebuke to Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet, following his absence from the debate on the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for a third time.
Chastanet has not contributed to the debate in 2022, 2025 and now 2026, maintaining on each occasion that he was being unfairly treated due to the speaking order in the Lower House.
Responding during his rebuttal on March 26, Pierre dismissed those claims, arguing that parliamentary procedures do not grant any special entitlement to the Opposition Leader.
“The people of Saint Lucia never elected who will speak first or who will speak last,” Pierre asserted. “The people of Saint Lucia never said if you have one member there is any special time for you to speak.”
The Prime Minister pointed to regional precedent, noting that parliamentary structures vary widely.
“In Barbados as we speak there are no members of the opposition. There are 30 members on one side,” he said, referencing Barbados.
Pierre maintained that accommodations had in fact been made to facilitate the Opposition Leader’s participation.
“We have given the leader of the opposition the privilege to have the same time as the Prime Minister if he decides to respond to the motion,” he said. “We have said to him that when the Minister of Finance delivers the budget statement he can get the exact amount of time to respond.”
However, he accused Chastanet of refusing to engage based on what he described as a misplaced sense of entitlement.
“Because of his arrogance and his disgust for the choice of the people of Saint Lucia, he believes he has some divine time to speak when he wants,” Pierre said. “There is nothing legal about that. There is nothing practical about that. There is no moral correction in that belief.”
The Prime Minister went further, suggesting that the Opposition Leader has failed to accept past electoral outcomes.
“It is because of a belief that he is superior and a belief that he does not understand that the people of Saint Lucia have rejected him twice,” Pierre stated.
He also addressed broader concerns about parliamentary equality, insisting that all members are subject to the same rules.
“We have just begun putting him on notice today that he will be treated in the Parliament like a regular member like all of us,” Pierre said. “There is no privilege in this House for anybody.”
“You have called me up, you have stopped me from speaking, you have told me I have had my time,” he continued. “You have told every member this morning no extra time. Why does the leader of the opposition believe he has any special privilege?”
Pierre warned that such conduct undermines democratic norms and disrespects constituents.
“I want the young people of Saint Lucia to understand that what is happening here is disrespect for the people of Micoud South,” he said. “Disrespect for the constitutional arrangements in the country.”