CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Aug 3, CMC – The St. Lucia government Monday announced that Governor General, Sir Cyril Errol Melchiades Charles, had demitted office on July 31 and that Britain’s King Charles, ,acting on the advice of Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre has appointed Felix Finisterre to act in the position from August 1.
Sir Errol was appointed Governor General on November 1, 2024, following the departure of Sir Neville Cenac, who demitted office on October 31, 2021 with the government statement indicating that Sir Errol, the son of the island’s first Chief Minister George F.L Charles, had “served during a period of constitutional change in St. Lucia”.
It said these changes included the island’s transition from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice(CCJ) as its final court of appeal and that “throughout his tenure, he discharged the responsibilities of the Office of Governor-General with dignity, steadiness and respect for the country’s constitutional traditions”.
Prime Minister Pierre is quoted in the statement as expressing “profound gratitude” to Sir Errol “for accepting the responsibility to serve at an important time and for carrying out his duties with dignity and respect for the Office of Governor-General.
In April this year, Sir Errol was flown to the neighboring French island of Martinique for medical treatment. The Office of the Governor General gave no details of the illness but said that the 84-year-old head of state, who was accompanied by his wife, Lady Anicia, and his family, “respectfully requests the prayers and well wishes of the people of St. Lucia during this time.”
The government statement Monday said that Finisterre has given decades of service to St. Lucia in education, community development, sustainable tourism, public administration and regional development.
In 2000, Finisterre was elected to the House of Assembly and served as Minister for Communications, Works, Transport and Public Utilities until 2005. Following his retirement from active politics, he continued working with communities and institutions across St. Lucia, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Haiti.
He also serves as the Eastern Caribbean Representative of the CARICOM–Canada Expert Deployment Mechanism, through which he contributes to regional capacity building and institutional strengthening.
CMC/ah/ir/2026