CASTRIES, St Lucia, (CMC) — Economist Allen Chastanet led his United Workers Party (UWP) to a resounding victory in Monday’s general election and immediately signalled his intention to turn around an ailing economy, deal with a ballooning debt, while at the same time keeping citizens at the heart of the new socio-economic plans for St Lucia.

“I want to say a big thank you to the people of St Lucia… let them know we are not going to let them down,” Chastanet said at his first news conference after the Electoral Department’s preliminary figures showed that the UWP had won 11 of the 17 seats contested in the general election.

“Thank you for the support in energising us,” he added.

Chastanet said he wanted to name his Cabinet as soon as he had discussions with other members of the victorious party.

In a statement, outgoing Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony congratulated the UWP, noting that “on all accounts, this was a convincing victory.

“It is clear there was a major national swing against the SLP (St Lucia Labour Party). I wish the people of St Luca the very best as we embark upon this new journey,” Anthony said, noting that he has no intention of serving as Opposition leader and indeed, as the leader of the Opposition party.

But he pledged his support to his colleagues and thanked the country for the opportunity of serving as prime minister on three occasions, saying also he would remain as the parliamentary representative for Vieux Fort South.

Chastanet described the victory as an “incredible achievement”, saying that the electorate had understood his party’s ‘Five To Stay Alive’ strategy and reiterating that the imposition of the value added tax , high unemployment, and a 66 per cent increase in the cost of piped water had impacted the nation heavily, with many people finding it difficult to manage their households.

“These are the things that strangled the people… and I think that any responsible Government has to address the problems of the people,” he told reporters.

He said that the victory comes at a “difficult time in the history of our country” and accused the outgoing Government of engaging in projects towards the end of its tenure.

“There are many projects that Government has started in the last few weeks we will review,” he said, noting that the debt over the last five years had reached “billions of dollars”.

Chastanet said that while economic development was necessary, it should not be at the expense of the people.

“One of the things we will be working very hard to ensure is that we are going to rebuild a country to the benefit of all the people,” he said, noting that he intends to name his new Cabinet as soon as possible.

He said the immediate priority would be for the inauguration of his Administration on Tuesday and holding talks with banana officials from the French Caribbean territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe as well as finalising the discussions on the construction of two hotels here as soon as possible.

He said the Government would also set up a tribunal to look into the report of the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) that looked into the alleged extra judicial killings by police during the period 2010-11.

“It has certainly been a stain on St Lucia’s name internationally and we need to be able to deal with this as quickly as possible,” said Chastanet, a former tourism minister, who easily won the Micoud South seat after he was trounced in the Soufrière constituency in 2011.

The UWP leader had received 2,495 votes as against the SLP’s Guibion Ferdinand, who polled 1,446 votes.

Former Prime Minister Stephenson King easily retained his Castries North seat, polling 3,774 votes as against John Charley’s 1,482 votes.

Chastanet is joined by the Opposition leader in the last Parliament, Dr Gail Rigobert — a former University of the West Indies lecturer in international relations who won the Micoud North seat.

Rigobert polled 1,930 votes and in the process, defeated Jeannine Compton-Antoine, the daughter of the late Sir John Compton who had ventured into the arena as an independent candidate. Compton polled 787 votes.

While Anthony easily retained his Vieux Fort South constituency, it was not the case for some of his Cabinet colleagues such as Emma Hippolyte, the minister of commerce who did not find favour with the electorate this time round.

Health Minister Alvina Reynolds also felt the wrath of the voters when she lost the Babonneau constituency to the UWP’s Ezechiel Joseph, who received 3,374 to the minister’s tally of 2,168.

The preliminary figures released by the Electoral Department showed also that Foreign Affairs Minister Alva Baptiste had easily retained the Laborie seat, polling 2,094 as against 1,468 for Francisco Jn Pierre.

Deputy Prime Minister Philip J Pierre fought off a strong challenge from Fortuna Belrose, winning by a 2,901 to 2,568 margin.

The close margin of victory in the election was in the Castries South constituency, where the former chief executive officer of the West Indies Cricket Board Dr Ernest Hilaire defeated former trade unionist Mary Isaac by 43 votes, as he polled 2,215 votes.