DOMINICA-POLITICS-PM to hold talks with former CCJ president on electoral reform

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit will hold talks on Monday with Sir Dennis Byron, the former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), who is the sole commissioner advancing the efforts towards electoral reform in Dominica.

Skerrit told a news conference that electoral modernization is a major priority for his administration this year.

Sir Dennis had proposed presenting the first phase of his report by the end of November last year, with the Parliament tabling the Register of Elector’s legislation in December and the plan to enact it in January 2023.

The main opposition United Workers Party (UWP), which boycotted the general elections last December, has already told supporters to be prepared to take to the streets “in the not too distant future” to demand that electoral reform takes place in Dominica.

The UWP, along with the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP), boycotted the December 6 poll that Prime Minister Skerrit called two years ahead of the constitutional deadline in support of their demands that electoral reform should have taken place before any fresh general election.

Skerrit told reporters he would hold “a consultation” with Sir Dennis on Monday “to have a first look at the report he has presented and the associated legislation.

“I also want to inform the country that Dr. Kenneth Darroux is already at work to carry out the national coordination of all aspects relating to electoral modernization. We hope very soon we will start engaging the public on the various aspects of the electoral modernization,” Skerrit said.

“My only hope and pray are that the process can be efficient, in terms of the country agreeing on what are the elements of the reform and that we can go to Parliament as quickly as possible to enact the legislation and start the process of affecting the issuance of the national ID card and to go through the process of verification for voters on the elector’s list.”

Skerrit said he hopes the existing problems “could be eliminated quickly, so we have electoral modernization in Dominica. This one thing can disappear very soon in this new term.