PRESS RELEASE
The Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) is very much concerned that the revised draft legislation submitted by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has deleted some critical recommendations made by Sir Dennis Byron which would meet some of the demands for electoral reform.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit’s draft legislation completely omitted all provisions related to campaign financing, one of the most vexing issues that has contaminated the electoral process in the Commonwealth of Dominica since the 2005 general elections when the Dominica Labour Party sold its first diplomatic passport to fund the election campaign of that year.
In addition to deleting the much-needed campaign financing regulations, the Prime Minister’s draft legislation fails to adequately address the issues of residency, voter identification, and reregistration requirements. Whereas the Prime Minister’s draft legislation generally satisfies the basic conditions of normal electoral legislation, the Prime Minister has deceptively managed to avoid meeting the demands for electoral reform by engaging a phantom team of legal experts to undo the recommendations of Sir Dennis Byron who was paid handsomely by the people of Dominica.
The continued deafening silence of the constitutionally instituted Electoral Commission since the 2019 general election is unacceptable and as a result the Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) is appealing to the private sector, religious, political, and all civil society organizations to demand that the deleted recommendations of Sir Dennis Byron must be reinstated into any legislation that goes to parliament, for any meaningful electoral reform.
In this regard, the ERC invites the leaders of all the various organizations to a virtual meeting to review the draft electoral legislation at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday 25th June 2024 via the Zoom platform.
The topic for discussion is the deleted recommendations from Sir Dennis Byron’s draft legislation in pursuit of a mature and responsible approach towards the achievement of genuine electoral reform for the people of the Commonwealth of Dominica.
The ERC also demands respect for the citizens of the Commonwealth of Dominica from Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit who appears to be doing a favor with the constitutional rights of the citizenry to free and fair elections.
Struggling, fighting even, to remain relevant and in the news. Lol! Same idiotic utterances repackaged and reposted. No doubt, they will receive the same response from the masses.