ROSEAU, Dominica – President Charles Savarin has urged Dominicans to get involved in the public discussions on electoral reform as Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced that he was hoping to hold a “last meeting” with prominent international jurist, Sir Dennis Byron on Tuesday to further advance the efforts at modernization of the electoral system.
President Charles Savarin addressing the first sitting of the new Parliament on Tuesday CMC PhotoAddressing the first sitting of the Dominica Parliament following the general elections last December in which Skerrit led his Dominica Labour Party (DLP) to victory in a poll boycotted by the main opposition parties over electoral reform, Savarin said that the process was now nearing its end.
“The issue of electoral reform has loomed over us for several election cycles. Government has played its part in facilitating this initiative through the provision of technical and financial support to the responsible authority and more recently the engagement of a prominent and high profile legal mind in the person of Sir Dennis Byron to review the existing electoral legislation and processes and to submit recommendations for reform”.
Savarin, who announced that he would be stepping down as head of state at the end of his second five-year-term in October, told legislators that he was urging them as well as the public at large “to acknowledge that the process is almost complete and to approach the consultations and debate on electoral reform from the point of view of ensuring that the rights of all eligible voters are protected”.
He said it was also necessary for persons to be “vigilant to ensure that the names of persons who are no longer eligible to be on the voters list in conformity with our existing laws are removed following due process.
“I look forward to the consultation on the report of Sir Dennis Byron on this matter. I have every confidence that the…issues of electoral reform will be given priority attention by this new administration”.
Savarin recalled that prime Minister Skerrit had given an undertaking that he would ensure “that all stakeholders including the Commonwealth Secretariat and the OAS (Organisation of American States) would be engaged in consultation to review the report and recommendations by Sir Dennis Byron and once and acceptable draft legislation is agreed upon on this matter, a bill will be brought before Parliament for its consideration.
“I take the Honourable Prime Minister at his word and look forward to this House bringing this matter to a close,” Savarin said.
Skerrit told the Parliament that his administration is committed to electoral modernization even as a group of people gathered outside the legislative building to protest the slow pace of the reform.
He said he is hoping that the meeting with Sir Dennis, the former president of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), who had been appointed as the sole commissioner here on electoral reform would be the last.
“I want to say, Mr. Speaker that since the engagement of Sir Dennis Byron and his submission of his first draft report which was submitted in December, I have met with Sir Dennis for this year on two occasions to discuss the recommendations in the draft report”.
He said he was due to meet with Sir Dennis on Monday, but that meeting has been rescheduled to Tuesday, despite the Parliament session “and because of the importance which myself and the government place on electoral reform, I indicated to Sir Dennis I was prepared to meet with him today…and my hope is this will be the final meeting we will have before he submits his final report.
“Truth be told, I would like to see this process come to an end at the earliest time and I am hoping we can come to Parliament …we will convent Parliament for one month and if that day can be a Saturday or Sunday…just to pass the legislation on electoral reform.
“So I am saying to all those listening to me that if you are serious about electoral reform, let it happen. I am saying this to those who do not want it to happen that you can jump high, jump low there will be electoral modernization in Dominica because there are some who say they want it…but they want to continue to give the international community the impression that this government doesn’t want electoral modernization,” Skerrit said.
Last weekend, the opposition United Workers Party (UWP) which had boycotted the December poll, released the copy of the draft registration of electors bill 2023, that had been prepared by Sir Dennis and sent to confidentially to various stakeholders, including the former opposition leader, Lennox Linton.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) Tuesday expressed concern “about blatant attempts” by Prime Minister Skerrit “to insert himself in the electoral reform process and his continued engagement with Sir Dennis Byron”.
In a lengthy statement, the ERC said Skerrit was attempting “to influence the process in favor of the ruling Dominica Labour Party”.
The coalition said that while it recognizes the responsibility of the government to provide the financial resources for the activities of the Electoral Commission and to present legislation related to the electoral process to the parliament, Skerrit “as the direct beneficiary of the electoral laws has no other authority over the electoral process and he must be told in no uncertain terms to stay away from the works of Sir Dennis Byron and the constitutional responsibilities of the Electoral Commission”.
