Roosevelt Skerrit Likely To Stay Prime Minister Of Dominica After Elections

The Prime Minister of Dominica has found himself likely to be re-elected after a snap election on Tuesday showed the ruling Dominica Labour Party winning majority of the seats after a boycott from the opposition.

Roosevelt Skerrit, the current Prime Minister of Dominica, is expected to retain his position in the country after the opposition has boycotted the recent snap elections due to a lack of electoral reform and the possibility of voter fraud, according to the Associated Press.

Dominica’s House of Assembly had 21 seats up for grabs, and it is currently projected that 19 of these seats will end up going to the ruling Dominica Labour Party, largely due to the boycott of the United Workers Party and the Dominica Freedom Party. Two independent candidates were also reportedly elected into the parliament, Jamaica Loop News reported.

The United Workers Party and the Dominica Freedom Party, the country’s two major opposition parties, have boycotted the elections due to the belief that the current electoral system gives Skerrit an unfair advantage against them.

Among what they have advocated in ways of electoral reform is the issuance of national identification cards to lessen voter fraud, and a brand new voter list, some of which was endorsed by other organizations, including The Organization of American States and the Caribbean Court of Justice.

This would be Skerrit’s fifth term as Prime Minister, a position he was first elected to in 2004, and he has claimed that this would be his last term as the leader of Dominica. He has planned to give out an olive branch to the opposing parties and hear their concerns for the country.

Skerrit has also promised to usher forward the electoral reforms being asked by the opposition, including legislation establishing national identification cards. He has expressed caution in the idea of cleansing the voters list as it exists in Dominica.

“Those who are currently on the list should be given an opportunity to be registered. The leader of the United Workers Party lived in the diaspora and he only returned a few weeks ago and now he’s the leader of the party,” he said.