ROSEAU, Dominica, November 18, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says if his Dominica Labour Party (DLP) wins all the 21 seats in the December 6 general election being boycotted by the main opposition parties, it will use the opportunity to ensure that the voices of the church and the trade union are heard in the legislative chamber.
Today is Nomination Day for the election that Skerrit called two years ahead of the constitutional deadline, which the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) and the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) have indicated they will boycott because of the lack of promised electoral reform. At least two independent candidates have said they will contest the polls and the newly formed Team Unity Dominica (TUD) said it will nominate candidates.
Speaking at a DLP public meeting on Thursday night, Skerrit, 50, who has been prime minister since 2004, said if the party wins all 21 seats, “I shall move with dispatch to have the necessary laws amended to provide the for appointment of four independent senators to the Parliament of Dominica.”
He said he would ask President Charles Savarin to appoint one senator on the advice of the political entity that received the second highest number of votes in the election, another appointed on the advice of the private sector, with the other two coming from the trade unions and the churches.
“So have no fear; there shall be voices in the Senate and at least of different philosophies in the Parliament of Dominica. We shall facilitate different views and recommendations. We do not believe we have all the ideas, but we need constructive engagement, and I shall look forward to a new purposeful and well-intentioned Parliament in the New Year,” Skerrit said.
But speaking at a “No Reform, No Election” rally in the capital on Thursday night, Opposition Leader Lennox Linton urged supporters to boycott the election unless there is electoral reform.
“We have campaigned for it, we have advocated for it, and for years we don’t have it. Every independent body that has monitored elections in Dominica says we should have reformed,” said Linton, who last month stepped down as the UWP leader.
“So we are saying now, the first order of business in the resistance to that disrespectful betrayal of us with this election call is to ignore it completely. It is not our election; it is his election; let him contest it; he will go up against himself; it will never be a legitimate election.”
Linton told supporters that the snap poll would have no legitimacy, “and tonight we stand united in denying Roosevelt Skerrit the moral authority to govern Dominica.
“Why can’t the whole of Dominica tell Skerrit we need electoral reform, and we need it now, and we are not going into another election without electoral reform, and it is time for us to stand? We cannot sit idly by anymore and watch things happen and pretend they are not happening.
“We, the citizens of this land, must take a stand, and I am happy that so many thousands of you in Dominica and around the world who love this blessed land are willing to stand and fight for it. Our fight now means we are not participating in his election. We are going forward with our demands for electoral reform, and we will insist on another election, our election this time,” Linton said.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Office said that all Returning Officers and Election Clerks would be available at designated nomination centers on Friday to receive nomination papers and Statutory Declarations from prospective candidates.
“The Officers will begin receiving nominations at 9 am until 4 pm (local time) for seven hours continuously. If, at the end of seven hours, there is only one candidate duly nominated, the returning officer will immediately declare that candidate to be duly elected. If there is more than one candidate duly nominated, the Returning Officer will adjourn the poll to the date stated in the writ, December 6, 2022,” the Electoral Office added.
It said that every candidate must be nominated by no less than six electors registered in the same constituency for which he/she is seeking election and must consent in writing to the nomination.
“Every candidate must deposit a sum of EC$500(One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) in cash. If he/she fails to do so, their nomination will be deemed void. Every deposit will be returned to the person by the Financial Secretary upon presentation of a certificate from the Chief Elections Officer that the candidate was elected or received not less than one-eighth of the total number of votes counted at the election.”
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