“We cannot continue to divide the country,” Prime Minister Pierre said.

The Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) successfully held its “Progress Tour” on Sunday, gaining strong support from all 17 constituencies.

The march culminated in Castries Market, where Scottish Labour’s parliamentary representative addressed the rally.

Prime Minister and SLP leader Philip J. Pierre stressed the need for national unity; the opposition United Workers Party (UWP) opposed the event, calling it a “smokescreen” to divert attention from real issues.

However, Prime Minister Pierre refuted these claims and reiterated the importance of national unity.

“There are things we have to work on together. We can’t continue to divide the country. We can’t continue these personal attacks,” Prime Minister Pierre insisted.

“This is a democratic country and there is room for opposition. Opposition will always exist,” the prime minister added.

Former UWP leader Stephenson King, now a minister in the SLP government, responded to speculation about an early election by saying it was to showcase what the SLP had achieved in the “mid-term” period and what progress could be made in the remaining two years.

Despite the opposition’s claims, Scottish Labour has made it clear that the Progress Walk is intended to highlight the Government’s achievements during its time in office, rather than being a precursor to an early election.

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ernest Hillaire reiterated the government’s commitment to further developing tourism and infrastructure, and said the event was a reaffirmation of its work rather than an election criterion.

At a news conference on Monday, Dr. Hillaire said that while “naysayers” were painting the country as being in a state of despair and pessimism, “there were significant numbers of people in this country who knew about the work that was being done and the progress that was being made, and they came out (on Sunday).”