Dominica PM blames opposition for delay in electoral reform

Dominican Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, is blaming certain actions by the opposition United Workers Party (UWP) and the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) for the delays in the process for the implementation of Electoral Reform in Dominica.

"Only entity showing interest in proceeding with Electoral Reform is the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) Administration," said Skerrit.

“This opposition with this movement or whatever you call it, the opposition party used that entity to file an injunction in the courts, preventing the government from seeking parliamentary approval to the amendments, so that is where we are,” he said.

According to Skerrit, the Parliament needs to give to the electoral commission, the legal authority to issue the National ID Cards and to go through the process that it has to engage the electoral reform.”

“As you all know we went to the Parliament, there was a riotous situation and in the judgement and the wisdom of the government in the Parliament, we decided to withdraw the Bill and to go through a process of consultation,” Skerrit stated.

He continued, “We had a consultation, we wrote to various stakeholders asking them to submit certain recommendations. There was nothing substantive coming from them.”

That notwithstanding, he indicated that listening to radio programmes and listening to comments about the draft Bills, “we removed certain sections of the Amendments.”

Skerrit indicated that the only thing the country needs now is the legal authority to allow the commission to make those changes, to effect Electoral Reform and to start the process.

The CCM has been actively advocating for electoral reform for free and fair elections in Dominica since January 2018, through its weekly radio programme, a public education campaign and a number of public protests against such issues as the government’s proposed amendment to the Elections Act.