Stephenson King dropped the gauntlet on Sunday at the UWP national convention. The Leader of the ruling party called on mamy Flambeau to do the right thing lest the wrong thing become precedent. He was referring to delegate resolutions coming out of the just held delegates’ conference. King moved a motion to discount all resolutions he says are unconstitutional. One of the rejected resolutions called on delegates to return the Choiseul MP to the Cabinet. That resolution had been voted on before the Political Leader struck it down. And not only did Rufus Bousquet not agree the

resolution was unconstitutional – he had another request of the membership. King harshly criticized the manner the resolution was brought to the floor. The methodology reeked of a “good old boys” club he says did not allow for debate and discussion. Bousquet says although he cannot speak to the constitutional nature of the resolution – he is not pleased with what he says was the unilateral dismissal of it.

Stephenson King has called on delegates to table their resolutions until another meeting is convened to vote on them. Bousquet has been out of the Cabinet since last year when he was dismissed from the post of External Affairs Minister.

It was a celebratory atmosphere at the Castries Comprehensive School for the highly anticipated UWP Convention – the first in three years. The Convention attracted much media attention, as many candidates vied for leadership positions. Lenard Montoute and Ezekiel Joseph emerged as the Deputy Leaders of the party. Montoute says his return to the leadership is a sign of the UWP delegates’ confidence in him. Montoute received almost twice the number of votes than his closest competitor. Ezechiel Joseph was not surprised that he was elected Deputy Leader. Joseph who secured 151 votes says

UWP delegates rewarded him for his philosophy about how the affairs of the party should run. Stephenson King ran unopposed for the leadership after some aspirants opted not to contest the position. King says now that the election is over it’s time for the new executive to get down to work. Karl Daniel defeated Dunstan Du Boulay to secure the position of party Chairman. Anthony Walcott is the new Treasurer. Michael Flood and Oswald Agustin were voted in as first and second deputy Chairman respectively. The last UWP Convention was held in 2005.

Dr Kenny Anthony says it appears that Cubans think the St.Lucian government does not appreciate the relationship between the two countries. The Opposition Leader says it is important that the government recognizes the value of the relationship and the level of support Cuba gives to St.Lucia. He says the Stephenson King administration should work towards strengthening the relationship. The Opposition Leader says that should not be the case because those courtesies were also extended to other Caribbean islands. A government delegation was also in Havana for talks with the business community. The Opposition Leader says that’s a step in the right direction but, this should have been done earlier.

When Dr Kenny Anthony visited Cuba along with Harold Dalson and Moses Jn. Baptiste they did not meet with the Cuban President, instead they met with the first Vice President Ramon Machado Ventura. Dr Anthony says the Opposition MP`s only urged the Cuban government to continue providing support to St.Lucia but, he insists they did not bargain on behalf of St.Lucians.

Dr Anthony who described the trip as a courtesy visit says it afforded the Opposition a chance to thank the Cubans for their generosity. This was the second such opposition trip to a foreign ally since the Labour Party demitted office in 2006. They first visited the Peoples Republic of China.

Monday March 31st was the deadline to file income tax returns for the period January to December 2007. The Inland Revenue department worked feverishly last week and the week-end, to get as many returns filed before that deadline. Tax payers had a number of avenues to complete their returns including on-line and at post offices.

The department says there are no plans for an extension of the deadline. That means – whoever did not get through on Monday – will have to file under a late fee. The Inland Revenue department is located in the financial centre at the Castries waterfront.