Dominica: Opposition United Workers Party seems to have a change of position on contesting polls

Dr Irving Pascal spokesperson of the United Workers Party and one of the contenders for leadership of the UWP is urging opposition supporters to present themselves as independent candidates for the December 6^th general elections.

He made the appeal on the UWP’s radio programme at Q 95 FM on Wednesday morning. Pascal went on to say that he will provide the EC $500 deposit required for nomination. The UWP spokesman says the UWP should not allow the Labour Party to go unopposed on December 6th.  Notably, the final date to file a nomination is November 18, 2022.

Reginald Austrie a Senior Minister in the Labour government says that he is not surprised by the utterances of the UWP spokesman. He says it is another manifestation of the confusion which exists within the UWP.

“A party with no leader. No policies. No plan. Reginald Austrie went on to say that it is the very same UWP who is saying that the election is fraudulent yet still they want to contest in a surreptitious manner because they know the masses are not with them,” added Reginald Austrie from Dominica Labour Party

With the announcement made by Pascal, it is clear that the United Workers Party was seeking to create negative publicity around the snap general elections, however, they failed miserably in their efforts.  Earlier,  the United Workers Party had announced to boycott of the snap elections, citing electoral reforms reasons. However, the party received major backlash from people as well as from political opponents.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit had earlier taken a dig at UWP, for spreading misinformation and not telling the real reason for contesting elections. During a Dominica Labour Party event, he added that the real reason for the Workers Party not contesting the upcoming general elections had absolutely nothing to do with electoral reform.