Dominica to present three electoral reform bills for first reading in parliament

Roseau, Dominica: Dominica is all set to present three electoral reform bills for the first reading in the session of the national parliament which is scheduled to convene on Monday.

The bills will be named as “Electoral Commission Bill 2024,” “House of Assembly Elections Bill 2024,” and the “Registration of Electoral Bill 2024.” The following bills will be presented in the parliament after they are reviewed by Dennis Byron, who has submitted his suggestion and the draft of the report on June 12, 2023. 

Consultations on Electoral Reform Bill

Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit also shared the details of the bills and parliament session in the year-end press conference on Friday at 3 pm. He said that the consultations on the electoral reform bills have invited political parties, trade unions, business associations, professional organizations, youth-based organization, sports associations and the media.

In addition to that, several international observers from the organization of American States from the Commonwealth, from CARICOM and from the organization of Eastern Caribbean States were invited to supervise and observe the consultation process.

The public in Dominica was also given the opportunity to review draft legislation on the website of the government where they could submit the written feedback. Copies of the bills were also made available to all members of parliament on two separate occasions, providing an opportunity to the citizens to review and raise questions to the office of the attorney general or to the office of the prime minister.

Submission of Draft

The draft legislation which comes before the house on Monday was submitted to the chief election officer and to the electoral commission for the review and comments in May. They submitted the draft to the government at the end of June as they asked for some more time, and they eventually submitted it in September.

“This is how they took a very long time and that was understood because we need to ensure that the electoral commission has ample time, and they took all of the time that they needed to review the legislation and to give their observations and comments, “ PM Skerrit noted.

The Prime Minister invited the groups, members of the public and parliamentarians to get another opportunity to familiarize themselves with the content of the legislation. The bills are available on the office website of the government of Dominica.

He noted that the proposed electoral reform has undergone extensive consultations and reviews with all relevant groups in the society. “I have consistently stated our commitment to presenting these legislative measures to parliament to ensure that our elections remain free and fair,” PM Skerrit added.

Bills in Parliament

PM Roosevelt Skerrit noted that the bills will be taken to parliament for first reading with an intent that the changes can be made before the bills are tabled for the second and third readings.

PM Skerrit asserted that since the independence, there are limited occasions when bills are only taken in the first reading, it is usual practice in the parliament that the bills go through all of the readings and the cabinet took the decision in a deliberate manner.

“These bills must come to the parliament to be passed, so that the electoral commission can be given the authority in law by the parliament to effect electoral reform.”