Dominica Parliament to elect new President on Moday, Savarin likely to get job again

DOMINICA: The Dominican Parliament will be convening on Monday to elect the new President and viewing the present scenario it is most likely that sitting one, Charles Angelo Savarin will be getting the job again for the next five years.

According to the law, a President is nominated by the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition and elected by the House of Assembly in Dominica.

"The government has written and taken all the steps to nominate Savarin as its nominee for consideration by the Parliament but there was no joint nominee by him as Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, Lennox Linton," said Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit.

“I wrote to the Leader of the Opposition on August 3rd, 2018, indicating to him the interest of the government to nominate Mr Charles Savarin and seeking his concurrence,” Skerrit stated.

“He responded to say that give him 15 more days again, two weeks, as he will need to go across the country soliciting ideas and names and suggestions but he never got back to me.”

He said the government is proceeding to parliament, since there is no joint nominee, to elect Savarin again as the next President of Dominica.

The swearing-in of Savarin to take place at the Goodwill Parish Hall on Tuesday, October 2 at 10:00 am and the media was already invited last Friday to attend the ceremony.

The President is the Head of State of the Commonwealth of Dominica. The Office of the President was established by Section 18 of the Dominica Constitution Order 1978.

The President is elected by the House of Assembly and holds office for a term of five years.

Charles Savarin was previously elected as President of Dominica on September 30, 2013 and most likely to continue to head the President's office for the next five years.