by Global News Staff
caption: Therold Prudent, political leader of the Lucian People's Movement (LPM)
CASTRIES, St Lucia — One of the three political parties expected to contest general elections in St Lucia has called on Prime Minister Stephenson King to roll back the salaries of ministers and opposition parliamentarians to what they were in 1997.
The leader of the Lucian Peoples Movement (LPM) Therold Prudent said this should either be done now or it will be done should his party win the elections.
In a weekend press statem
ent, Prudent noted that neither the ruling United Workers Party (UWP) nor the previous St Lucia Labour Party government have had much success in improving the state of the local economy, reducing unemployment, curbing inflation and providing the people with a higher standard of living.
“While the lot of the ordinary St Lucian has not improved, parliamentarians are enjoying astronomical increase in their salaries that is not justified by their performance,” Prudent said.
Prudent, whose LPM was officially launched last year, said both the present and former prime ministers have increased the national debt, increased the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) that is used to service that debt, and have used the island’s financial resources lavishly and recklessly.
He added that the justification used by former prime minister Kenny Anthony for accepting the recommendations to pay huge salary increases has not made ministers more efficient or more productive.
