Three electoral reform bills to be presented for third reading in Parliament this Wednesday: PM Skerrit

Roseau, Dominica: Three “Electoral Reform Bills” is all set to be presented in the parliament on Wednesday (March 19, 2025) for third and final reading. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit during his DBS Radio interview on Monday morning who noted that the bills meet all the international standards. 

The first bill is “Electoral Commission Bill”, the second one is “Draft Registration of Electoral Bills and third one is House of Assembly Election Bills. PM Skerrit labelled them as the far-reaching and progressive pieces of legislations and said that this is the first time in the political landscape of the region that amendments or improvements have been made to the electoral reform of the country. 

The opposition has given a call to hold a demonstration outside the parliament during the final reading of the bills, however, PM Skerrit criticized them and said that any approach always requires some sort of modification. “At some point of time, legislation has to be updated, our systems must be modernized. We accept that there’s never been any fraudulent elections in Dominica.” 

He said that elections in Dominica have always been free and fair, so everything needs modernization with new technology and meet with the international practices. PM Skerrit added that this is a democracy, and these bills are aimed to enhance the best practices in Dominica. 

PM Skerrit further talked about procedure to pass the bills and added that it is the parliament which will decide, the debates will be happened and the opposition side that are disagree with it are free to vote. 

“The bills that will be presented in the parliament meet the international best practices and we shared these bills with international partners such as the Commonwealth, the OAS, the OECS and the CARICOM, which showcased that the bills that we are presenting in the parliament is comprehensive.” 

PM Skerrit on US Visa ban list 

Talking about the US visa ban draft, PM Skerrit added that as of now, they did not receive any formal or official communication from the US government on this matter. He said, “I read the article of “New York Times”, made contact at US Embassy in Barbados and they too have indicated to me that they have not received any communication on the matter.” 

PM Skerrit asserted that if it turned out to be true, then Dominica will be given a chance to clarify any mistake which may exist. “We have always had very good communication with US government through their embassies and also direct to the state department, so we are open to engage in.”