Charles Savarin
Charles Angelo Savarin is the current president of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Born on October 2, 1943, in Portsmouth, he attended St. John’s Primary School and Dominica Grammar School before proceeding to England where he studied at Ruskin College in Oxford. He also has professional qualifications from Germany.
Savarin was a teacher at Dominica Grammar School from 1963 to 1970 before becoming a trade unionist with the Civil Service Association (CSA) where he served as general secretary for almost 20 years. He was a Senator during the interim government of 1979 to 1980 and played key roles as chairman of the Committee for National Salvation (CNS) which ensured that the interim government organized free and fair elections for an elected prime minister.
Savarin later got involved with the administration of Patrick John in which he played key government roles. In 1980, he contested the general elections on the platform of the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) but lost to Mike Douglas. He was appointed a Minister without Portfolio in 1983 and tasked with the trade, industry and tourism industry.
The commonwealth government appointed him as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the European Union in 1986. He was also the general manager of the National Development Corporation (NDC) before deciding to contest against Brian Alleyne when Dame Eugenia Charles stepped down from governance. Savarin lost to Alleyne, but then took the place of Eugenia Charles at the Roseau Central constituency.
He became the leader of the DFP in 1996 after the resignation of Alleyne, but he stepped down in 2007 due to overwhelming pressure from people. He represented Roseau Central in the House of Assembly and was re-elected the second in 2000. Following the coalition of the DFP with the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) led by Roosevelt Douglas, Savarin emerged the Minister for Tourism and later went on to become a key figure in Prime Minister Pierre Charles’ administration.
In 2003, Savarin in his capacity as acting prime minister proposed to construct a billion-dollar oil refinery in Castle Bruce area of Dominica, but the plan was scrapped when people opposed it on the grounds that drilling for oil would tarnish the image of Dominica as a Nature Island in its most pristine form.
When Roosevelt Skerrit was appointed as prime minister in 2004, his administration appointed Savarin as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Labour in recognition of his contribution to the growth of the DLP following the coalition with DFP. He went on to become the Minister for Public Utilities, Ports and Public Service in 2008 following a cabinet reshuffle. He eventually joined the DLP fully before the 2009 general elections.
During his time as general secretary of CSA, he empowered the association to become a very strong trade union that carried our major strikes that almost crippled economic and government activities. One was that of 1973 and another was that of 1977.
His Excellency Charles Savarin was invested with the Knight Grand Cross award of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George on November 5, 2014. He remains the incumbent president of Dominica. He is married to Clara Josephine Savarin and they are blessed with children.