PM Roosevelt Skerrit continues to blow hot at the heavy oppositional criticisms trailing his announcing a snap election for December 6. A coalition of opposition parties has decided to boycott the snap elections without a cleaning up of the voters’ register and implementation of the electoral reform promised by the prime minister; only the TUD has chosen to participate in the election.
However, Skerrit shred the contentions of the opposition over the fact that he dissolved his cabinet and called for a snap election before it is constitutionally due. He vented his anger over the fact that many Dominicans side with the opposition to paint him as a villain and a selfish leader who would stop at nothing to perpetuate himself in office.
I am a villain for calling elections in Dominica when I choose, but Timothy Harris in St Kitts collapsed his own government in two years and he is a gentleman. I am a villain for calling an election under three years in Dominica, but Sister Mia Mottley in Barbados is a genius for having called a snap election and even in a shorter period than I have done.
Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica
Tearing into the position of the opposition, Skerrit said he does not believe that democracy is under threat in Dominica. He contended that it is offensive for the opposition to cry foul for anything he does when other governments in the Caribbean are actually doing the same in line with respective constitutions and parliamentary legislations.
He said even if the DLP wins the entire 21 parliamentary seats due to non-participation by opposition parties, that does not imperil democracy in the country. He argued that a political party in Grenada won all parliamentary seats for three consecutive periods over several years, yet democracy remains stronger in the West Indies nation. He added that the current government in Barbados won the entire seats in parliament on two consecutive elections, and without a national tragedy.
But in Dominica, an opposition party that has lost five consecutive general elections chooses three years into the term to get rid of its leader, to break itself into fractions, and to choose leadership candidates who are not from the people, not of the people, or not for the people; and I am a villain for calling an election when the opposition has its pants off.
Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica
Meanwhile, unlike the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the prime minister of St. Lucia, PM Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda has refused to comment on the ongoing political crisis in Dominica. Browne and Skerrit are close friends and they are always in support of each other. “I do not wish to get involved in the political affairs of Dominica,” Browne said defensively. “This is not something that I do.”
This article is copyright © 2022 DOM767
