Nearly six months after United Workers Party (UWP) political leader Allen Chastanet said the party would complete an internal review of its performance following the last general election, the party is still working through that process. It has also yet to set a date for its convention.
But Chastanet says the delay is not a sign that nothing is happening behind the scenes. Instead, the UWP is grappling with a bigger question: should it address weaknesses identified during the review first, or hold its convention and implement the changes afterwards?
Responding to a question from St Lucia Times about where the review now stands, when supporters can expect a convention and whether the party is falling behind, the UWP political leader acknowledged that “there are clearly things…within the party that we need to look at”.
“You need to get buy-in to what that change is going to be. And that’s what the party’s process is right now,” he said at the party’s press conference on Tuesday, noting that change within any organisation can be difficult.
Back in March, Chastanet told St Lucia Times that the UWP was undertaking a review following its election defeat and expected the process to take about six months. At the time, he also indicated that the party’s convention would ultimately settle the question of its leadership.
With that timeline now approaching, Chastanet said several important meetings are expected to help determine what happens next.
“There will be a couple of critical meetings coming up to make a determination. Do we go and have a convention earlier and have a staged process to the changes we think that the party thinks needs to be taking place? Or do we make the changes and go to the convention afterwards?”
A decision, he said, should not be far away.
“I think that that decision will be made in the upcoming weeks,” Chastanet said.
He rejected the suggestion that the party has been inactive while supporters await clarity on its next steps.
“I think it’s unfair to say that the party’s doing nothing. The party is extremely active,” he said.
However, Chastanet acknowledged that he would like to see greater activity at the grassroots level.
“I’d like to think that there was more work taking place on the ground,” he said.
There is also another issue hanging over the process, and Chastanet did not shy away from it: his own leadership.
“There’s significant questions about my leadership. And that’s fair. That’s a fair question,” he said.
Chastanet suggested that uncertainty over the leadership can make some people reluctant to fully commit to moving forward with organisational changes.
Despite the challenges, he maintained that the UWP remains a strong political organisation, while acknowledging the need to rebuild public confidence following its election defeat.
“I will accept that we have to do more to build up people’s confidence in the party,” Chastanet said. “And that is why this part of the process is so important that you get it right.”
