DOMINICA-Opposition Leader “Mum” on her non-support for the first woman to become President

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Opposition Leader Jesma Paul Victor says the opposition “has not yet decided” on a nominee for the position of President of Dominica after Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit Tuesday said he was “disappointed” that the government’s nomination for the work did not get the support of the Opposition Leader.

Parliament met on Tuesday to discuss the issue of a replacement for President Charles Savarin, whose two five-year term in office ends on October 1 this year.

Prime Minister Skerrit said that the Dominica Constitution provides for consultation between the head of government and the Opposition Leader on selecting a candidate. Please reach an agreement to ensure that the election of a President will take place 14 days after Parliament has been informed of the situation.

The government has nominated 58-year-old Sylvanie Burton, a member of the island’s indigenous population, to become the island’s 11th head of state since the attainment of political independence from Britain on November 3, 1978.

“As to a nominee on the parliamentary opposition side, this has not been decided as yet. We will wait 14 days and get back to Parliament and see what happens, “Victor told reporters.

Asked why she would not support Burton for the position, she replied, “There are reasons that my team and I have already discussed, and I will not make it public.”

She insisted she would not make public whether or not the opposition would present a candidate ahead of the next sitting of the Parliament, adding, “Until then, when we decide, or whatever we decide …we will write to the Speaker and then let our intentions go to the public”.

Skerrit said that he was disappointed that there could not have been consensus on the appointment of Burton, who is from the Kaliangoo Territory, where the descendants of the country’s indigenous people, the Caribs, still reside.

“It is unfortunate, and I see this as a repudiation of a woman and a repudiation of a Kaliango…the people who first came to our country, who defended our patrimony that we could have a Dominica to call our home.”

He said he was also disappointed that a “highly qualified” person did not meet the opposition’s approval.

“I can’t understand any good reason why the Leader of the Opposition would have come to her conclusion, but I guess her advisors would have a different view and would so advise her,” he said.

Skerrit’s Dominica Labour Party (DLP) government controls 19 of the 21 seats in the 21-member Parliament, and the government’s nominee is expected to be elected at the next parliamentary session in 14 days.

Mrs Burton has been a senior public servant since 2014 and is currently the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment, Rural Modernisation, Kalinagoo Upliftment and Constituency Empowerment.

She has been a Justice of the Peace for 25 years and holds a master’s Degree in Project Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in Rural Development.

She is married and has two children.
“She is Dominica’s first female president and indigenous president,” Skerrit said.