In response to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt’s selective release and circulation of the most recent draft electoral legislation and his threat to take the legislation to parliament without further public consultation, the Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) will convene a workshop at 9:00 on Saturday 25^th May 2024 in the auditorium of the University of the West Indies Global Campus with stakeholders to scrutinize the draft legislation to determine whether or not the vexing concerns related to the electoral laws of the Commonwealth of Dominica have been adequately addressed.

The Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) is extremely concerned with the way Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit continues to disrespect the Dominican people with his approach to the revision of the electoral legislation in the Commonwealth of Dominica. After ignoring the cry of the population for the need for electoral reform for almost two decades the Prime Minister insists on treating the electoral process as his personal property of which he is granting the population a favor.

It is important to remind the population of some of the actions of the Prime Minister leading to the most recent:

1. Prior to the 2019 general elections the Prime Minister completely ignored recommendations from the Commonwealth Secretariat, CARICOM and the Organizations of American States (OAS) who he had invited as observers to the general elections of 2009 and 2014 and subsequently as a special mission to review the electoral laws of the Commonwealth of Dominica. The Prime Minister proceeded to call general elections in December 2019 without the implementation of any of the recommendations from the international organizations.
2. The Prime Minister announced the engagement of Sir Dennis Byron to undertake the review of the electoral legislation at his victory speech on the night of the 2019 general election and the process would begin within 100 days of the swearing in of the new government. Sir Dennis Byron was not engaged until almost two years later.
3. On November 6^th, 2022, the same day Sir Dennis Byron submitted his first report and more than two years before general elections were constitutionally due, the Prime Minister proceeded to call a snap election, again ignoring the cries of the population for electoral reform.
4. After Sir Dennis Byron submitted his final report in July 2023, the Prime Minister proceeded to convene an elaborate ceremony at the State House to distribute copies of the report to various stakeholders which was followed by a series of public consultations during the month of August 2023.

Since the completion of the public consultations the Prime Minister has ignored all requests by the ERC for information on the electoral legislation review process. Recently the Prime Minister announced that he has submitted copies of the revised electoral legislations to Her Excellency the President and the Electoral Commission, and that he will discuss the legislation with members of parliament to have the legislation passed before the next financial year. The public was advised to access the legislation on the government’s website.

The ERC observes with much interest the attempt by the Prime Minister to bulldoze his electoral legislation on the Dominican people and the fact that he did not find it fit to make copies of the legislation available to stakeholders as was done with the Sir Dennis Byron report, consideringthat the draft legislation is much more significant in complying with the constitutional requirement of the Commonwealth of Dominica.

Not withstanding the Prime Minister’s blatant disrespect to the Dominican people, and his determination to bulldoze the electoral legislation in parliament, the Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) will continue to approach the electoral reform process with a high level of maturity and transparency.

On Monday April 22^nd, 2024, the ERC convened a meeting with Her Excellency the President of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Mrs. Sylvanie Burton, at which the Attorney General was present. The ERC delivered a package of all the recommendations for comprehensive electoral reform agreed upon by the various stakeholders from the consultative process.

All attempts made to meet with the Prime Minister and the Electoral Commission were unsuccessful, however, the ERC recognizes the constitutional responsibility of the Electoral Commission and at this eleventh hour calls on the Electoral Commission to convene the necessary public consultations in order that the people of the Commonwealth of Dominica be granted the opportunity to make a final input in the most important legislation which determines the future of Dominica’s democratic system.

The Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) has requested an urgent meeting with the Electoral Commission and in preparation for that meeting the ERC will convene a workshop to review the legislation at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday 25^th May 2024 at UWI Global Campus to which all stakeholders are invited.

Meanwhile, the Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) is calling on all political parties to review the revised electoral legislation and to take advantage of the small window of opportunity to address their concerns.

The Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) reiterates its principled position that electoral reform is for the benefit of all the citizens of the Commonwealth of Dominica without any bias towards any sides of the political spectrum.

The Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) prays that good judgement, justice, transparency, accountability and respect for the rights of the Dominican people for free and fair elections will prevail and there will be a divine intervention on the behalf of our beloved nation.