Chairman of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, has said that the infusion of “new blood” in the regional bloc shows that it is committed to democracy and rule of law.
CARICOM opened its 37th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in Guyana on Monday and some new Heads, which were recently elected in their countries, were present.
Skerrit, who delivered the feature address at the Conference said it opened when CARICOM is “being infused with new blood.”
“Their presence, through the electoral process, is an affirmation of our Community’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law,” he stated.
Among new Heads present were Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica, who led his Jamaica Labour Party to victory over the People’s National Party in that country’s general election in February, 2016, and Allen Chastanet, whose party, the United Workers Party, defeated the St. Lucia Labour Party, in June 2016.
Although he was not present, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley, was elected in September 2015.
Also, present at the conference were Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves and President of Suriname, Desire Bouterse, who were both re-elected to office in the past year.
Skerrit said the over the last two years, six of the 15 members of the Conference were new to the table and he stated that the combination of old and new faces is beneficial for CARICOM.
“All the others continue to give unbroken service to the Conference and we value their contribution highly,” Skerrit said. “This mix of experience and fresh perspectives in the leadership of our Community could only be beneficial and will serve to rejuvenate our integration movement.”
“When you have been fooled by a FOOL that makes you a foolish fool” How can a man who has publicly denounced the rule of Law and Order now come and lecture us on Democracy and the rule of law. Respect my man must be earned; you have shown absolutely no respect whatsoever neither in thought, words or deeds. Not because your shallow minded fanatics think your are a mega god does not give you the right to spew your garbage onto the rest of us; go read your proverbs son.
\” Skerrit said CARICOM has affirmed its commitment to democracy\” are you kidding us Skerrit, democracy in Dominica? You have to be a laughing stock of the other Caricom leaders, they see and hear what nonsense you are doing in your country. You must think before you speak, we are just shaking our heads when we hear these lies coming from you.
I hope he is correct.
Caricom makes its rules and seems to have a rather tight hold on its member nations. It is no longer a matter of what does your constitution say, or what does your law say, or even what does your government advise, but now it is also what does Caricom say.
Weaker nations feel the need for the security that comes from the sense of belonging, so they applaud this.
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. Evangelist.
You seem to be describing an EU sort of arrangement, but I don’t see CARICOM as anywhere near as centralised as that. CARICOM may involve some policy harmonisation, but it’s no superstate. In fact, I more often hear people complain that CARICOM isn’t doing enough (although I think they should be careful what they wish for).
Reverend, please read our constitution (it is availalble on line) and you will learn that this legislation stands supreme above any other. Caricom is not a separate legislative body and can not impose rules and regulations without the consent of all member states, leave alone enforce them. Even then, they must comply with- and be subject to, in our case the Constitution of Dominica.
I am sending this to commentators Me and Steve Foerster:
Thank you for reading my comment and responding. Before I commented I should have better acquainted myself with CARICOM. You have provided helpful information.
One thing puzzles me.
When P.M. Skerrit said CARICOM was committed to democracy and the rule of law I assumed he thought
others feared differently and he wanted to put their minds at ease. Why would he have said what he did
if no risk or danger could exist?
Anyway I thank you both again for advising me. I will take a closer look at the matter.
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. Evangelist.
What a joke Skerrit!! Practice what you preach, every Caricom leader sees you as the fake that you are!
” Roosevelt Skerrit, has said that the infusion of “new blood” in the regional bloc shows that it is committed to democracy and rule of law.”
What new blood nonsense you are talking Roosevelt, are you insinuating because the government of St. Lucia has changed that constitutes new blood! What you should have stated is this:
Whereas democracy may exists, or there is a resemblance of democracy in the rest of the Caribbean; democracy dose not exist in Dominica. You Skerrit is an obstacle in the way of true democracy in Dominica. In a country (Dominica) where a police officer can beat and arrest an old man, simply because he criticized you; based on that alone we know Dominica is not a democratic state.
You are a one man government, you make all the decision, and they are finalized by you; the rest of the puppets simply follow you, that is obviously a dictatorship. You bribe people, and buy votes to remain in power; a clear violation of true democracy, in a democratic society,…
This prime minister of Dominica is the worse I have seen in my short life on this rock,under his leadership Dominican who are the middle class has become poor that is his legercy
Electoral reform; new voter list……….. thanks
Skerrit need to practice what he preaching, he is fake as fake can be, skerrit clean your dirty laundry before you advise others to do so
The OAS, CARICOM and the last general elections, a Rep. from the Commonwealth all were observers to general elections in Dominica.
On two occasions, after observing two General Elections here, the OAS and CARICOM recommended, in their report, that the Voters’ list must be cleaned, because it is bloated, with the names of dead people still on that list,.
CARICOM, the OAS raised concerns about BRIBERY, which is against the electoral laws, equal access to the nation’s radio station and laws to regulate Campaign Financing, given the huge amounts of money being spent in Dominica’s elections.
For Years now, the Dominican public, CARICOM, the OAS, calling Skerritt’s DLP Govt. for ELECTORAL REFORM, election after election Skerritt refuses to implement any reform to the election process. CARICOM is aware as well as the OAS as well as the COMMONWEALTH, as well as the OECS and in fact, the WORLD. Yet NO REFORM
Remember who said, “No LAW, NO Constitution…..?”, Where’s…
Mr Skerritt,what is your understanding of”commitment to the rule of law and Democracy”.You clearly have a different understanding to those of us who keep asking you to clean up the voters list,be open and transparent,be a civil servant not an overseer of his estate,follow the norms and protocols for good governance as existed before your tenure as Prime Minister started.You do as you please and have your special council dig under every rock to bail you out.We are frustrated with your comprehension of “rule of law and Democracy” and want things to go back to what worked for everyone
It is time for some infusion of new blood into Dominica…..Sixteen years of Skerrit Rule is stifling the growth of Dominica. Time for Change
DNO has become like a Skerrit bashing forum. Any and every article has little real discussion but a set of people attacking the Prime Minister as if he is some kind of super villain.
Eventually one day you will run out of reasonable people willing to comment on the midst of this chaos and advertisers if you continue on that track.
On the substance of the story Skerrit is correct. When you look at Africa and Latin America the level of stability of our democracies in the Caribbean is very good. Yes there are challenges but elections are free and fair.
In the United States there is an ongoing fight on voter ID cards where the Democrats are arguing that Republicans want to disenfranchise poor minority and elderly voters with ID cards by making it difficult for them to get cards and therefore vote.
This battle is being fought all across the states. The discussions surrounding it are real. wake up Dominicans and face issues and not personalities.
Actually, he’s a super villain in my opinion. This man and his merry band are crippling Dominica.
Gee that Is missing apples and oranges Dalit.— wow do you the issues there well? I don’t think so.
Why are you using Africa and the States? Stay right here in the OECS Antigua got voter ID cards in six months Dominica is going on ten years. Grenada , Trinidad , Antigua and St. Lucia all have revised list Dominica list can’t be revised going on ten years. Let’s go back to the U.S if is there you want to go . they havec campaign financing laws down here when asked we get its not none of our damn business go to bell is the reply. Let Clinton or Trump tell anyone the U.S. that and then come back to tell me what time it is. So stop comparing us with the U.S. and Africa compare us to our neighbours right here in the OECS and CARICOM. While you at comparisons don’t forget to compare economic and social performance and you will sure to see us securing last place on a consistent basis with little or no competition and that’s the legacy of the man Skerrit.
Why does it hurt you so much when people truthfully talk about Skerrit and his terrible leadership of this country????Are you telling the bloggers to be like you,call bad good and call good bad?…Well sir/madam Skerrit is a high grade hypocrite who has failed Dominica…I hope sooner rather than later he will be asked to answer questions!!!
Dalit,every time people like you wants to defend and protect scarit the illegal rogue prime mistake, you all choose the bad examples to make him look good! There is no difference between a murderer criminal killing one person and another killing two people,they both commit the same crime! What you are actually doing is admitting that this illegal rogue posing as government is not democratic,by your comparison to countries that are not democratic! You and i know that this man holding the office of Prime Minister is not fit for such off!
Ok, democracy in a Chinese (communist) controlled region? Allu mad man!
Last person that should be talking about rule of law and democracy
The man just don’t know when and what to talk on especially when he couldn’t care less , he wants to make other countries heads believe he cares but that’s an act and they not be fooled ., PM don’t know what the rule of law or democracy is all about it’s over his head he have to depend on his side kick Tony to give him a hand.
Skerrit meant to say that democracy and the rule of law is alive in all CARICOM countries, except in Dominica. I guess Dominica is not part of CARICOM
Travel is still very difficult for members of CARICOM throughout the Islands and very expensive. I.E. it is much cheaper to travel from Dominica to New York City, than from Dominica to Trinidad.
Ok until we have electoral reform and a clean voter list in Dominica please stop talking Mr. Skerrit about Democracy-more like Demo-crazy.
Dominica cannot be part of CARICOM impossible. Committed to democracy and law and order? Rigged democracy and selective law and order you meant.
INFUSION OF
BLOOD CORRECTIONS
You know Skerrit is not an educated person, the man is not quite familiar with the English language, he reads the speeches people write for him, but when you have a situation where the blind leads the blind, he is is not capable of discovering where his write who is also not familiar with English language is also wrong.
I my book he almost got away with it time; for whereas infusion means ” a drink, or remedy or an extract prepared by soaking the leaves of a plant, or herd in liquid.”
The word infusion also implies the introduction of a new element, or quality, but even at that he chose the wrong words, because in the final analysis we are still talking about a substance in liquid form.
If Skerrit profess to be an English an major I am going to expose his lack of comprehension of the English language, by letting him know the word “infusion” is an English word denoting “the pouring in of a liquid”: it derives from the Latin word infusio, from the verb…
Roosevelt Skerrit says one thing and does another. He would not recognise democracy and the rule of law if he met them on the street. Indeed Sir, we need a fresh perspective in leadership (..your words!), so please do us a favour and GO!
All these negative comments re: your P.M.
How can you say such things about a elected official?
A democracy honors the vote of the majority.
You can’t wait until the next election?
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. Evangelist.
Mr. Hill, the saying goes “who feels it knows it.” Have you ever took some time out to really study Skerrit, and his character? Mr. Hill Skerrit is not in power because he is loved by Dominicans, or because he has done anything significant in the country which makes him a desirable Prime Minister.
Those of us who knows the man Skerrit; we know he is unfit to hold public office. He survives in politics, because at election time he imports Dominicans who are not residing with no interest in Dominica to vote for him, and any other puppet he select to run in the constituencies, and then they return to wheresoever they, resides
Mr. If that guy lived in any other country in the world and was involved into politics, he would long be in jail. If he was in any country on the continent of Africa; I know what would happen to him, I know cannot say it on DNO, so I leave it to you to guest: Nevertheless if you are familiar with African culture, and politics, you will get the notion!…
Reverend , Roosevelt Skerrit was democratically elected the same way Robert Mugabe was democratically elected and I make no apologies for saying that.
WE NEED ELECTORAL REFORM IN DOMINICA!!!!
Dominica is the only Caricom state where people vote without voter ID!!! I hope there will not be another election on island without ELECTORAL REFORM!!!
las marti, rule of law and democracy are not words that you should use… your track record on these issues are terrible