United Workers Party (UWP) Chairman, Therold Prudent, has pushed back forcefully against growing claims that he has been “missing in action” and that tensions may be brewing between himself and party leader Allen Chastanet.
In a recent media appearance, Prudent called the speculation “complete nonsense,” insisting that his role as chairman does not require constant public visibility.
“The chairman of the party is the administrative leader of the party. It does not have to be on every platform. It does not have to be on every radio station,” Prudent stated. “I am organizing and doing the work I have to do. I was born United Workers Party. All my life I’ve been UWP, except when I switched because of Stevenson King and Richard Frederick. I’m back home, and no one will remove me from the United Workers Party.”
Prudent also addressed the growing number of former UWP members who have publicly thrown their support behind Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre and the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP). The list includes former party heavyweights and ex-ministers such as Stephenson King, Richard Frederick, former Speaker Andy Daniel, and former Cabinet Minister Edmund Estephane, all of whom have echoed similar criticisms that the UWP has “lost its way” under current leadership.
Prudent dismissed those claims and the defections themselves as insignificant. “You mean a handful? A handful of renegades and rejected persons of the party,” he said. “People who took the party to court. Persons who, when they were serving as Speaker, tried their best to derail the government of the United Workers Party by tabling a vote of no confidence. So they’re better off where they are right now. The other party can have them.”
When asked whether the steady stream of departures pointed to deeper internal issues within the UWP, Prudent insisted that the defections reflect more on the individuals than on the party.
“It doesn’t say anything about the leadership. It doesn’t say anything about the party,” he said. “What it says is the party has reorganized, the party is organized, and the party can do much better moving forward in these elections without the obstacles.”
The UWP chairman maintained that the party remains unified and fully engaged as it prepares for the next general election.
