Prime Minister of St Lucia, Philip J Pierre, has taken over as the rotating chairman of the Regional Security System (RSS), a job he said he is taking with humility and purpose.
He replaces Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis.
“As the new Chairman of the RSS, I accept this responsibility with humility, with purpose, and with an unwavering commitment to advancing the safety and security of our Caribbean region,” Pierre said on Monday. “I do so with deep conviction in the power of regional unity and collective action.”
He pointed out that the RSS must be the region’s tool for collective action.
“It is the most formidable security mechanism available to us,” Pierre stated. “If we continue to join forces, share intelligence, and coordinate responses, we stand a real chance of turning the tide on this escalating violence.”
He called for unity to safeguard the future of the region.
“If we are to safeguard our region’s future, we must deepen our unity, renew our purpose, and act with urgency,” the St Lucia Prime Minister noted.
“The Regional Security System was born from a vision of regional solidarity in the face of shared threats.”
As Chairman, Pierre is responsible for:
• Approval authority for any mobilization of RSS Forces;
• Approval authority for financial arrangements of the RSS;
• Hosting the Annual Council of Ministers meeting in March 2026 and any other meetings of the Council deemed necessary;
• Approval authority for the contract of the Executive Director, if required.
The RSS made the news on March 17 when Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, announced that it was being alerted in light of planned protest action over three bills on Electoral Reform that were being presented in parliament.
The very next day, former Prime Minister of St Lucia, Allen Chastanet jumped on the matter saying an independent assessment of the situation in Dominica should be made before deploying RSS.
Political Leader of the United Workers Party (UWP) Dr Thomson Fontaine also wrote to the Chairman of CARICOM, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley expressing concerns that the RSS was being misused to suppress the fundamental human rights of Dominican citizens to engage in peaceful protests.
Mottley responded by saying that the decision was based on past experiences with protests and was made in the interest of national security, in alignment with the purposes of the RSS Treaty.
She did say the RSS was never deployed but pointed out that the protest did not receive the necessary permission from the Police of the Commonwealth of Dominica.
“CARICOM will continue to support democratic expression in keeping with the national laws of its Member States,” she wrote.
The RSS was created in 1982 to counter threats to the stability of the region in the late 1970s and early 1980s.