PM Skerrit Tackles the Opposition on All Political Arguments They Put Forward

PM Roosevelt Skerrit has decided to speak out against the opposition coalition on all electoral issues they raise against the DLP. Given the suddenness with which the December 6 snap election has been called, the UWP and DFP among other opposition groups said they will not be taking part in the forthcoming election.

They said without the much anticipated electoral reform promised by Skerrit in 2019, they will not be voting or encouraging anyone to do so in December.

While electoral consultant Sir Dennis Byron has revealed that the electoral reform contract assigned to him will be ready and fully available for implementation in 2023, Skerrit said his new government will implement the recommendations of the reforms when they become available. He emphasized that until Byron’s electoral reform is ready, Dominicans will vote has they had always voted in the past.

I want to make it clear that this new DLP government which we are about to re-elect shall introduce recommended reforms as soon as such reforms are ready and have been imputed by all willing Dominicans residents at home and abroad. I want to say, that we vote in Dominica today, how we voted 20 years ago; and how we voted 27 years ago when the UWP won the government.

Hon Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica

Speaking on the rancour raised by the opposition on the need for voter ID cards, Skerrit argued that people in the United States and in the United Kingdom do not have voter ID cards – yet they vote acrimony. He also contended that the argument that Dominicans resident abroad should not vote in local elections is nonsense; he said once Dominicans in the diaspora repatriate money home to develop their country’s economy, they why should they be barred from voting?

My view is that Dominica is too small to cut itself off from the rest of the world. Philosophically, I believe that if a person works elsewhere but sends home money, provisions, and other enabling assistance to upkeep their family in Dominica – I, Roosevelt Skerrit [do] not see why that person should be unilaterally removed from the voters’ list in Dominica. They have a right to vote in Dominica’s elections.

Hon Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica

On the ultimate verdict on whether Dominicans abroad should vote in local elections, the prime minister said he will consult further with his cabinet and other stakeholders on the matter. He, however, established that in Antigua and St. Kitts, citizens resident abroad vote in their local elections.

Speaking on the wisdom of calling a snap election without prior warning, Skerrit said “we caught them [the UWP] with their pants off.” He criticized the major opposition party for their absence of viable policies, credible programmes, and campaign funds. He mocked that “three years after the last elections they have no political leader…that is why they couldn’t submit nomination papers on November 18, 2022.”

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