George Odlum

George William Odlum (born June 24, 1934 in Castries , St. Lucia , † September 28, 2003 ibid) was a politician from St. Lucia.

biography

During St. Lucia's membership in the West Indian Federation from 1961 to 1964, Odlum was initially Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism. He then worked as an economist in the Secretariat of the Commonwealth of Nations in London .

On his return in 1967 he became Executive Secretary of the Council of Ministers of the Associated States of the West Indies . He was then from 1971 to 1978 chairman of the Union of farmers and farm workers (Farmers and Farm Workers Union). In this capacity, he was also the leader of the anti-independence movement, which was supported by the leader of the Saint Lucia Labor Party (SLP), Allan Louisy .

When Louisy became Prime Minister on July 2, 1979 , Odlum was appointed Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He held these offices until the end of Louisy's tenure on May 4, 1981.

After a long absence from political life, he was appointed permanent representative to the United Nations in 1994 and remained in this post until February 1996. In the elections of May 1997 he was elected as a candidate for the SLP as a member of parliament, where he held until 2001 constituency Castries Northeast represented. Prime Minister Kenneth Anthony reappointed him Foreign Minister on May 4, 1997.

As an activist on the political left , he tried several times to become party leader himself. In 2001 he resigned because of a disagreement with Prime Minister Anthony and then tried unsuccessfully in an alliance with another party to become Prime Minister himself.

Web links

• rulers.org