Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, has announced that a by-election for the now vacant seat in the Soufriere Constituency will be held on June 7, 2016.
“As of Tuesday the 26th day of April, 2016, the seat of the elected member of the Soufriere Constituency became vacant as a result of his resignation,” he said in a statement on Monday afternoon. “In accordance with Section 55 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica, a by-election shall be held to fill the vacancy within three months of the occurrence of the vacancy.”
He said in pursuant of Consitution, he has advised the “President that the by-election for the Soufriere Constituency be held on the 7th of June, 2016 and that nomination day be declared to be the 20th of May, 2016.”
“In that regard, and further to Section 12 of the House of Assembly (Elections) Act, I further requested of His Excellency, the issuance of writs on the 9th of May, 2016 for the purpose of the aforesaid election,” the Prime Minister said.
The Soufriere seat became vacant on April 26, when MP Ian Pinard resigned based on what he said were allegations made against him.
The Soufriere Constituency consists of the communities of Soufriere, Scottshead, Gallion and Pointe Michel.
Dominica is doomed,as mentioned before,Skerrit has taken our poor hopeless people to the devil,he will continue to fool them,Skerrit your day will come,Your bday coming up so you will fool them with cake and soca rum,thats what they deserve,give it to them,so sad for Dominica.Time will tell SKERRIT.
Wicked set of people. Waiting to buy the people again. It has already started. If you feel so strong about your governance, why do you have to keep paying people. I hear even a UWP person was given $40,000 to finish her house. OMG, this sort of bribery will STOP one day
7th of June??
PM you want a birthday gift? If Labour Party win the seat again that will be a nice little birthday gift for you to celebrate, right?
Is it me, or is it weird that a former Minister of the Ruling Party was elevated to be President? A position that should be unbiased and fair..Dominica is corrupt from the head down and that is the problem in this fast becoming ghost town.
From the 1960s young people have been leaving Dominica and when all the neighboring islands have stabilized and getting their population to remain at home young professional Dominicans still leaving..Go figure!!..
Here is Soufriere with the opportunity to turn the tides and show this Government that they deserve more than a fancy visit from the PM or a questionable MP..Skerrit’s singular aim is to remain in power and nothing more..
Dominicans this is where skerrit taking our country, Stop him now before we suffer more and more
Hungry Venezuelans Hunt Dogs, Cats, Pigeons as Food Runs Out
https://panampost.com/sabrina-martin/2016/05/04/in-venezuela-residents-resort-to-hunting-dogs-on-the-street/
People of Pointe Michel, Soufriere, Scottd Head you all need to teach the DLp a lesson…that you people are not going to be bought for a few handouts and with rum…
I call on all voters, take his money and gifts and then vote for UWP. After all, he does not know where you placed your ‘X’. One way or another you get the best of both worlds. Play him at his own game, show him Dominicans are not stupid!
I think they should vote for a woman instead since its the men who failed them and disrespect their young girls
One more chance to prove we as Dominicans will not stoop low to skerit handouts.. Dominicans we will not vote in another Labour Party person into power. Reject the Labour party every chance we get. Take all what they are giving us because it’s ours by right but they have to go. come 7 th june we are not voting Labour back in soufrier. We need decent representation. Vote UWP…. vote UWP … Just see how skerit will do anything for a vote. Scanning the area day and night a place he never uses to go. He turned his back soon after they were voted in all if a sudden his present so being felt this s not what we want as representation. We do not want Labour back in Soufrier. I call this whoring out every night looking for a cheap frill. In soufrier case out every chance looking for a cheap vote…
DNO since the election is near, in all fairness, should you not have a different picture of Ian Pinard? This picture looks discriminatory for DLP Party. I surmise it serves as a reminder of the allegations brought against him. You know what this could cause for this Party.
My suggestion is, another picture should be posted; probably of the politician who is vying to be elected or none at all.
Skerrit vital and shocking information is out there from THE PANAMA PAPERS for Dominicans to digest!!! I have read it and the most I can say is that Dominica must by now be the most corrupt country on earth!!!
According to a popular press reporter, Skeritt has been seen in Soufriere regularly, to the extent that the man has become a very popular domino player in the area. The man cannot afford to stay in Dominica for more then a month, therefore, the by-election is held in a month. Don’t be surprised in the coming weeks, the Soufriere Constituency will be paved in gold. The man will be having breakfast, lunch and two dinners in the Constituency. Priest get ready, have lots of communion ready. Every funeral service, whether DLP member or UWP member, expect the man to be present. Farmers, if you need help to cut and carry your bananas, help will not be to far, look out for a red shirt and a red cap. Fishermen, have all your gears ready, in the coming weeks, help will be on the way. He has not played cricket for years, look out for an imitation of Narine or Shane. Ladies, get your dancing shoes ready, you will have a lot of dancing to do in the discos.
Not sure why this sounds like a surprise to you .For the last set of elections this has been the norm by all the political parties with the exception of the freedom party to an extent.Not sure why you sound surprised and flabbergasted by it. The opposition party will soon be there too.
Haha! that one made me laugh.
I forgot to mention, Swining Stars, Dominican and Bajan calypsonians.
As we get ready for the By-election in Soufriere, which to me is clearly a serious cause of concern when one thinks of the reason for this by- election, we cannot help but conclude that the communist hand out style of governance that Skerrit has brought to Dominica, has tremendously paved the way for this fall.
As a nation that claims to be a Christian nation, we should be very concerned about our future with Skerrit and his Chines connection.
Please open the link below to see how the Chinese government is treating Christians, in China and tell me how long before Skerrit /China place similar sanctions on us in Dominica
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/chinas-crackdown-on-christian-churches/ar-BBsONQI?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=LENOVODHP15
You know; some of you classify me as someone who does nothing except criticize. The fact is the truth most of the time comes out as criticism, nevertheless, whereas I criticize and beat up on Skerrit everyday, I think you have sunk to a low, very low category if you are really trying to blame; or blaming Skerrit for the fall of this guy!
That is nonsense I will forever bash Skerrit, call me a Skerrit basher, but I cannot blame him for anybody getting caught in a sex scandal!
Pinard’s fall from grace is his own personal doings, he realize the error of his ways, and did the appropriate, and most logical thing he could not avoid doing. Now, just prior to the election, Lennox made a political remark about government ministers taking sexual advantage on the unfortunate young women when they go to seek economic help from politicians.
All hell broke loose, they ran and sue Lennox for a million plus dollars: Everything happens for a reason, it is just unfortunate Pinard is the one…
We will change your name to Francisco, The Great And Consistent Criticizer. See, we have changed your status to a higher one. Should you not be happy? You may end up receiving a citation from DNO readers, if not DNO itself
You have the right to comment and criticize but just keep it clean and respectable and, do not deny others their rightful privilege. You will be better appreciated.
All hell broke loose, they ran and sue Lennox for a million plus dollars: Everything happens for a reason, it is just unfortunate Pinard is the one caught into this scandal. There are many thieves, murderers, pedophiles, and other criminals walking the streets, we will never know who they are until they are caught craving the flesh, raping or stealing!
I would hope that some lesson will be learnt from this, and those who wish to bleed Lennox for a political comment he made without mentioning a single Dominica politician name will simply go to court and tell the court to dismiss their complaint with prejudice, and go on with their miserable life!
excuse me!!! you fall to mention Joshua,what happen that name living a bad taste in your mouth,o your bawls ain’t big enough to slam linton also,judgement is a two way street here partner,he point his finger and it came back to bite him in the *** also,the strength in the Roseau south was unprecedented for the UWP party,bare that in mind sucker
@Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque, you completely misunderstood me because I DID NOT blame Skerrit for the fall of a grown man like Ian. What I said is, the policies of Skerrit facilitated what happened, especially where the child is concerned and I wish I could spell it out as I see it but I know DNO will not post it.
“The Soufriere seat became vacant on April 26, when MP Ian Pinard resigned based on what he said were allegations made against him.”
The question is, what kind of allegations were made against him? We need new readers logging everyday and they need to know what we are talking about. Furthermore, they ought to know that the man former minister was arrested and partially charged. This is what led to the by election of a government minister. I believe this is important because a right thinking person need to understand why we need to vote Skerrit and any candidate he sends out.
On the other hand, in the interest of Dominica, we need a general election because too many rumors against this administration have surfaced since the 2014 election. We need a by-election in Soufriere & Roseau South for same reason, Colihault,& Clifton/ Capuchin because of health and yes, Vielle case. Skerrit, because of rumors re the NG Lap Seng case, the panama paper & others. We need a fresh election!
The police department will not reveal the allegations. What I find strange is, the name of the businessman who was bailed for $75,000 was not released. Nothing has been stated about him.
There seems to be some sort of bias practice, releasing the names of both politicians which caused them to resign.
Since a minor, as the Law views this, is involved, the names of the politicians should not have been released. There is a two-tier system in this regard.
Innocent until proven guilty.
Let’s go Higgs and win that seat for UWP. DA need new blood.
Are you sure that Higgs is going back up? His party doesn’t even want him anymore.
June 7th, huh? And the new airline supposed to begin on June 2nd? Hahahahahahahaahah
The plan was in action for months now. The new Airline, NEP focusing in that very constituency, and many visits to key members of the party. Let us see the onslaught of Labour in this regard. Voters of this constituency, please remember that this labour party tricks people into forgetting years but remembering moments. Remember the years of misery and not the moments of “sewo” and the buying of votes. Vote wisely.
2016 is the year of great surprise and unprecedented events. This may very well be another. The people of this constituency can give LABOUR a slap in his face for great disrespect. This constituency has the power to turn the tables around and set a new phase in Dominican politics.
Man Skerrik know how to fool some Dominicans, the man is all over the place giving handouts and big money, .. to win the c8ming By-election, the man playing domino making drinks all over the place, this is so sick, when the people needed Skirrit, jobs and money to better their lives he was not listening to their cries, for him to remain in power to make them poorer and more poorer he is playing his old tactics again, handout, plywood, training, rum, dishing thousands all over the constituents, my people please take all skerrit is giving and on the day of the by-election please give Skerrit a taste of his own medicine, enough is enough, how much more misery can we take from skerrit and his administration, how much disrespect, how much insults, too much poverty all over the place, Donald Peter talked about silencing our freedom of speech, our constitutional rights, Donald and skerrit want to enforce their communist/dictatorship style on us wake up…
Politicians worldwide do it, even in Canada in recent months. There is nothing exceptional about that.
Let every Party/politician concerned do what it takes within the Law to encourage constituents to vote for their favorite Party.
It’s all part of the campaign process my brother.. It’s nothing new in dominica , this has been the norm for years now…
what Boye skerro was waiting for the Panama papers man .. master of distraction at it again .
ah boy ian u resign n run n u doh pay public works coporation employees their redundancy its almost a year now dem people unemployed allu hav money playing bol n allu doh payiny dem now labour wants us to give another one of their puppets a job I SAY NO WAY
Interesting…..by-elec on the 7th of june……charter service from FLL, FL starts off operate on 2nd of june…..haha…
but folks from the Soufriere Constituency are pretty much brainless say 60% thus the ruling regime will spin in the cash and other bling flashes which they’re known to fall for.
if they had upstairs they would send a clear message of change…but sadly dcans are not in that league and class of success stories as a….Nation…
@ Seminole Ave…. I find you rather insulting to refer to us in the Soufriere Constituency as brainless. I must say to you that it takes one to know one so you must be more brainless than we are… in fact you are brain dead! People are free to vote for the candidate of their choice. Would you call the people of the Marigot Constituency brainless? Bias person you are!
@ Tell it as it is, why Marigot?, why didn’t you write Grand Bay, Portsmouth etc, as far as I can see you are the bias and insulting person, are you saying that the individual who wrote the comment calling the villagers of the Soufiere Constituency brainless is from Marigot, well well well you are really a brainless chicken, and for your information, Marigot people are not brainless, look around you, look at Dominica and Dominicans today, it is all because of brainless skerrit Dominica turn from riches to rag I say Dominica, check the level of poverty, unemployment etc in dominica today, all the brainless skerrit is good at is corruption period, go figure it out
Daniel
If I were to do a bit of analysis I would understand “Tell it like it is” to be taking objection to “Seminole Ave”referring to the residents of the Soufriere constituency as brainless for likely voting the incumbent party which is their democratic right. He or she then makes a comparative assessment with the people of Marigot who also obviously voted along party lines which is also their democratic right.
In my view then, if you take objection to “Tell it like it is” making a similar reference to the people of Marigot you are conferring the right of freedom of expression to “Seminole Ave” while simultaneously seeking to restrict the right of “Tell it like it is”.
Herein lies the problem and probably the reason why some of you continue to be frustrated.
God gave everyone some degree of intelligence. It is left to adults to cultivate it.
People are smarter than you think. If they decide to support a Party it does not mean they are brainless. So, if they support the Party you favor, should they also not be considered brainless? What makes you think they have brains if they support your Party?
When will some of you grow-up and cease insulting your fellow people? It is a mark against you before God.
If your Party loses, you must learn to accept defeat even though you are disappointed. This gives you no reason to hate the one who won. This is possessing a matured mind.
May the best one win the election. This is the way the ball rolls.