Following the submission of Sir Dennis Byron’s report on electoral reform in Dominica, PM Roosevelt Skerrit said he wants everyone in the country to rally together to discuss the details of the report – just the way everyone will be rallying together to navigate the potential threats of Tropical Storm Bret in the coming weeks.
I believe that just as we will rally together in the days ahead to navigate whatever comes our way weather-wise, we should also rally together in the weeks and months ahead to agree on the four corners of the new electoral administrative procedures of the Commonwealth of Dominica.
Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica
According to the prime minister, various groups and organizations in the country have been presented with copies of the report – NGOs, media houses, churches, political parties, and trade unions amongst others – and that these groups should discuss the details of the report with their members, wider groups, and other fraternities. He said regional and international luminaries will also weigh in on the report.
Every organized group in Dominica, every special interest group in Dominica, and every Dominican with an interest in the future of Dominica are being invited to lend their voice in the discussion. I would like to think that we can convene four centralized events over a 10-day period, during which we can hear from the most wide-bodied and influential groups in society.
Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica
He also revealed that he would want to table new draft legislation before the Parliament to implement the recommendations of the electoral reform report after individuals and groups from communities around the Island have had their inputs. “It is my fervent wish that we can conclude this process and the legislation can be passed and enacted into law before the end of this calendar year,” he stated.
Meanwhile, a cross-section of Dominicans on social media have been having a field day condemning the prime minister on the way the electoral reform agenda is being managed – from assigning it to Sir Byron to asking people at the community level to contribute to its development.
“Our constitution is quite clear that electoral matters are the sole and exclusive reserve of an independent electoral commission,” one citizen commented on social media. “Why a prime minister is meddling in this and wants to be the choir master is beyond me. The delay in producing this report is inexcusable, and now it looks like Roosevelt Skerrit is playing for even more time. Is this going the way of an indefinite judicial inquiry where endless money is expended in an attempt to stifle progress and natural justice.”
One social media activist called for Skerrit to resign.
“Only the unrelenting, collective and determined efforts of the large majority of he electorate can and will bring about positive and crucial changes to the local electoral system,” he said. “The overly corrupt status quo has worked exceptionally well in keeping Roosevelt at the top of the food chain for the last twenty (20) unbroken years. No way this arrogant, unlearned ig***mus will change this.”
A number of others opined that the prime minister is like a chameleon changing its color to meet the expectations of its audience. “Skerrit has a vested interest in electoral reform, so he should never be the one leading the reform he himself has stalled since 2008,” they seemed to be saying.
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