By Press Secretary
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has defended the decision to secure a loan from the National Bank of Dominica Ltd (NBD) to finance the process of electoral reform, describing it as “a top national priority”.
Speaking in Parliament during the debate of the motion seeking EC$6 million in funding for the implementation of electoral reform, Skerrit said, “It’s a priority…and the government wanted to ensure that its integrity and its commitment to electoral reform are pursued in a very transparent way, as we have done all the time.”
The approved funds will be deposited into a dedicated Electoral Commission Fund, as stipulated by the new Electoral Commission Act of 2024. According to the Prime Minister, this provision aims to strengthen the independence of the Commission and promote a transparent process.
“This is being done to make sure that everybody sees and everybody hears, and the record will show that the government is making available the funds to the Electoral Commission to carry out its mandate.”
The loan will support the acquisition of equipment and software, hiring of additional staff, and the rollout of the confirmation process as mandated by the new Electoral Reform Legislation passed in the Dominica Parliament on March 19, 2025.
Prime Minister Skerrit also responded to criticisms about the government’s decision to borrow the funds, noting consistent attempts by “Opposition elements to discredit traditional revenue sources such as the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme.”
“They like to talk about CBI. But at the same time, seeking to destroy it, trying to deny the people of Dominica a better way of life, trying to stop all of these projects that we’re doing,” the Prime Minister said.” There are elements in this country who have gone all over the world besmirching and denigrating Dominica, black-eyeing Dominica, spreading falsehoods about Dominica. They would want to wait, Mr. Speaker, for one member of the commission to say, well, we are missing funds. We haven’t gotten funds yet. And you will see letters being dispatched to all kinds of organizations who have no interest in Dominica.”
The Prime Minister called on the Electoral Commission to “move swiftly to initiate the confirmation process, in line with the legal framework now in place.”
“So, as of this afternoon, the government will have fulfilled its mandate. It is left now to the Electoral Commission as a creature of the Constitution, empowered to deal with election matters in Dominica, to deal with it, to implement the mandate,” Prime Minister Skerrit stressed.