CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC - Prime Minister Stephenson King is expected to address the nation on Tuesday after two of his parliamentarians withdrew their support, reducing his ruling United Workers Party (UWP) to a slender one-seat majority in the St. Lucia parliament.

 

Informed sources told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that King’s planned address on Tuesday night comes on the heels of news that dismissed foreign affairs minister Rufus Bousquet and Deputy Speaker Marcus Nicholas had withdrawn their support for him as Prime Minister.

 

The two disgruntled legislators met with Governor General Dame Pearlette Louisy over the weekend to inform her of their position.

 

They have since said they are now "independent" members of Parliament.

 

As a result, the ruling UWP now has a 9-8 majority down from the 11-6 majority it enjoyed when the late Sir John Compton led the party to victory in the December 2006 general election.

 

King became head of the government after Sir John, the founder of the UWP, died last September. Before his death Sir John had dismissed Bousquet from his Cabinet but since then there have been moves to get the former foreign minister back in government.

 

Sources close to the government said that Bousquet and Nicholas are behind moves to force the dismissal of Economic Affairs Minister Ausbert D'Auvergne whom Sir John brought into the Cabinet through the Senate.

 

They claimed that D'Auvergne, the architect of the UWP's victory in the last election, had too much power as a non-elected member.

 

Political sources in Castries told CMC that apart from Bousquet and Nicholas, the Prime Minister is also likely to lose the support of his Housing Minister Richard Frederick.

 

The three disgruntled legislators have held several meetings with King in recent days and at their last meeting over the weekend, Bousquet and Nicholas reportedly walked out shortly after announcing that they had submitted their letters to the Governor General.

 

Earlier, the main opposition St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) said it was preparing for a general election and that it had already endorsed all of its candidates that contested the last poll.

 

"Now I think we have reached the point where we have no alternative but to go back to the polls. The people of St. Lucia are angry, they are frustrated, they feel betrayed, they are exceedingly disappointed and unhappy about what has taken place," said SLP leader and former prime minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony.

"We have a situation where there is a looming food crisis and on top of this we have warfare within the government which the Prime Minister (Stephenson King) seems incapable of resolving," he added.

 

CMC/es/pr/dmb/08