| Kenny Anthony | |
|---|---|
| Prime Minister of Saint Lucia | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 30 November 2011 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor General | Pearlette Louisy |
| Preceded by | Stephenson King |
| In office 24 May 1997 – 15 December 2006 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor General | George Mallet Pearlette Louisy |
| Preceded by | Vaughan Lewis |
| Succeeded by | John Compton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 January 1951 Laborie, Saint Lucia |
| Political party | Labour Party |
| Spouse(s) | Rosemary Antoine |
| Alma mater | University of the West Indies University of Birmingham |
Kenny Davis Anthony (born January 8, 1951[1]) is a Saint Lucian politician who has been Prime Minister of Saint Lucia since 2011; previously he was Prime Minister from 1997 to 2006. As leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party, he was Leader of the Opposition from 2006 to 2011 and returned to office as Prime Minister on 30 November 2011 following the 2011 election.[2]
Anthony is a graduate of the University of the West Indies and the University of Birmingham. In the Labour government that led the country from 1979 to 1982, Anthony was Special Advisor to the Ministry of Education and Culture from August 1979 to December 1980, then Minister of Education from December 1980 to March 1981. He was a member of the secretariat of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) from March 1995[1] until he was elected leader of the Labour Party.
He became Prime Minister on May 24, 1997, a day after the SLP won parliamentary elections. While Prime Minister, he was also the Minister of Finance and Broadcasting.
During his leadership and his party's reign, Anthony led St. Lucia to record development in tourism, infrastructure and general economic development. However, imbalances in the economic development, disenfranchisement and raising crime levels are challenges his administration had difficulty to tackle. Together with much economic development came steady increases in violent crime at a rate higher than many neighbouring islands and that caused many to draw comparisons with Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
Kenny D. Anthony is an Honorary Member of The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation
In the general elections held on 11 December 2006, the SLP suffered a surprise defeat by 11 seats to 6 at the hands of the John Compton-led UWP. While the SLP lost the election by 5 seats, the popular vote margin was in fact very slim, just over 2000 votes.
Anthony himself won a handsome victory in his constituency, Vieux Fort South, winning by 627 votes, only a few less than in the SLP's landslide election victory. Anthony remained head of the party and assumed the role of Leader of the Opposition.[3]
An interesting twist to the 2006 elections saga is that many feel that St. Lucians went to the polls not to elect a new government but to ensure that there would be a tougher opposition as against the 16-1 majority that the SLP had previously enjoyed. In a fate of irony, voters perhaps over-compensated for the frequent poll reports and political pundits' predictions that the SLP would again win a third term with a 14-3 majority. Many feel that, had Anthony himself not latched on to those poll results, he might have been better able to convince his own supporters that they were not yet in the clear and to turn out to vote in larger numbers.
Further, the reaction of many voters to the crossing over of former UWP leader Vaughan Lewis to the SLP was not positive. Lewis was a staunch opponent of the Labour government and the former Prime Minister who had lost the elections to the SLP - albeit after being handed the post only one year before the fateful loss. Anthony and Lewis have both stated publicly that all the "bad blood" between them was now "water under the bridge".
In late July 2007, Anthony said that Compton's illness, caused by a series of strokes, and his inability to perform his duties - Stephenson King was named acting Prime Minister - meant that a new election should be held.[4] Anthony was head of the Commonwealth of Nations observer mission in the August 2007 election in Sierra Leone. He gave the election a positive appraisal.[5]
In March 2008, Anthony visited Cuba where he voiced his appreciation for its support of Saint Lucia. He toured Havana and Cienfuegos Province, and met with senior officials including First Vice President José Ramón Machado Ventura.[6]
Anthony was returned to Prime Ministership on 30 November 2011 following the Saint Lucia Labour Party electoral win at the 2011 elections, winning 11 out of the 17 seats in Parliament.
<ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named antiguaobserver; see Help:Cite errors/Cite error references no text| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Vaughan Lewis |
Prime Minister of Saint Lucia 1997–2006 |
Succeeded by John Compton |
| Preceded by Stephenson King |
Prime Minister of Saint Lucia 2011–present |
Incumbent |
|
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