Building contractor, Stewart Paris, has expressed disappointment in the manner in which some members of the public conducted themselves during the series of consultations for electoral reform. He made that statement during the discussions held at Marigot this week. According to Paris, someone should be able to differentiate between a political campaign and a consultation by its tone and content.
“I have been following some of these sessions which are supposed to be consultative in nature and which will be seeking to secure results for the people of Dominica and I am very disappointed with some of the things I hear and the posture I see on display by some in attendance, and some who were making presentations,” he said. “The rhetoric I hear coming from some of these sessions is disturbing, to say the least.”
However, Paris said unfortunately he doesn’t find some of these sessions any different from, “the same old thing that we are accustomed to doing and have been doing for the last two decades which has taken us nowhere.”
He believes that “if this electoral process is done right”, Dominica will be one of the happiest places to live.
“Notwithstanding, if we can bring ourselves to appreciate the value of this opportunity we have, and use it properly, and if we get it right this time the future stability and the future prosperity of Dominica and the rule of law in this country will be guaranteed for a long time in the future, and will make Dominica one of the happiest places to live on the planet,” Paris stated.
He mentioned further that if this is done right, Dominicans residing abroad will no longer think of coming home to vote, but “thinking of coming back home to live.”
“But we have the opportunity now to fix it instead of using these consultations to come and argue about our political preferences and what we would like to protect,” Paris stated.
However, according to Paris, if the electoral reform process is done wrong, Dominica will not recover.
“We will not get out of the hole,” Paris stressed.
He then made reference to the Haitian Government.
“The Haitian people got it wrong some years ago; they did not fix it when they could. They used the time to argue for politics and the party of their choice while the country was rolling gradually towards the cliff with their children and their children’s children onboard to face doomsday with their eyes wide open,” Paris explained.
He said the electoral process in Dominica must be governed by the rule of law. On the issue of Dominicans living in the diaspora being eligible to vote, Paris said he has no problem. However, there should be conditions.
“No problem with people in the diaspora voting in Dominica’s national elections as much as they maintain a selfless interest in the welfare and prosperity of Dominica and its people and on their own volition, deliberate action, they expend their own resources to come here to cast their votes at election time and all subject to the rule of the law governing the election process,” the Marigot native opined.
However, he argued that if their only motivation to come to vote in Dominica is “free transportation” and “free pocket change” then that is fraudulent and immoral and is a threat to national interest. Meanwhile, Paris said Dominicans who reside overseas who have renounced their citizenship of their country of birth should not be allowed to vote during the country’s general election.
“Building contractor, Stewart Paris, has expressed disappointment in the manner in which some members of the public conducted themselves during the series of consultations for electoral reform.”
You know Stewart, I think you are indulging into nonsense; can’t see the odds are stacked against the people, are you pretending that you do not know that the crooks, the crooked people in Roosevelt regime, the yard fouls, and lap dogs are writing the questions they want asks and giving them to Roosevelt and labor supporters to go into those meetings and asked the scripted questions?
Your disappointment is outta nonsense; you are satisfied with the way Roosevelt and his clones and the little boy puppet Bryon planed it to result in Roosevelt favor, what is happening in Dominica right now has everything to cause Roosevelt to rule over Dominica till the day of his demised!
You can fool yourself, and play-big-man talking nonsense, but should not anybody besides Roosevelt!
Bwa-Banday is from Mahaut he forgot one person.A lady from Mahaut spent 20 years in the USA.She was deported to Dominica for drugs drunkeness and child abuse.She is still on drugs and alcohol,and living in Delice.Do you know who she is blaming for her miserable life and stupidity?SKERRIT.
Clown, I can detect that you have orchestrated, and perpetrated a blatant lie!
You see this here?
” 20 years in the USA.She was deported to Dominica for drugs drunkeness and child abuse.She is still on drugs and alcohol,and living in Delice.Do ”
Number one Child abuse in America, is a very serious matter, and depending on the severity of the abuse parents can sometimes spend life in jail, and in every case the children are taken away from them.
Can you verify that happened?
Where is the child the person abused?
You are a rotten liar man!
Now if your lie was not a lie, that person convicted on drugs, and alcoholism would not be deported for something as that; unless they were an undocumented immigrant.
After twenty years in this country, that person would be a fool not to become a citizen, and if that person was (is) a citizen she or he could not be deported!
After five years of been a permanent resident one earns the right to become a US citizen!
Where is your…
Cleanse the voters list and introduce voters ID cards. That’s it. Why over complicate things. Treating before elections should be forbidden and we already have laws in place fore that. However, the problem is that the Militia turns a blind eye. That needs to be addressed too.
Dominicans are being dragged into a useless charade by the cabal who is desperately trying every trick in the book to deny the required electoral reforms. Its time to STOP the madness and call out the people on the streets. Too much useless talking. We are allowing ourselves to fall into the trap the Starboy Of Stupidly has so cleverly set for us. Where are the civic leaders (not politicians) like Earl from Warner, Dice, Tony LeBlanc, Hand Bag, Thomas Letang, Pastor Rodney , Loftus Durand, The Bobb, Lucille, Blue-blue, Boots on the ground, Brian Linton, Blessings to name a few? What happen you are afraid to die or go to jail for love of country? Wake up people!
Man STOP waiting on politicians and chatting BS on social media and let us hit the streets. Use social media and call out the people to start the 24/7 removal campaign. No force can prevent us from getting the change we need. Lets roll folks…I am ready.
Well articulated, electoral peace has to be the focus of this activity of electoral reform. Without the focus being to ensure that the process is not adulterated with political interest and manipulation, we will not have a generally acceptable outcome of electoral reform and therefore not electoral peace. A lack of electoral peace leads to anarchy, making it a bad place to live, work, invest, take vacation or do business. We have to get it right this time.
“If this is done right, Dominicans residing abroad will no longer think of coming home to vote, but “thinking of coming back home to live.”
That statement by Stewart Paris, along with the suggestion put forward by Cara Shillingford-Marsh, makes double sense.
On the subject of coming back home to live, “Home Again” is a book well worth reading. It contains stories of migration and return, and was compiled by Celia Sorhaindo and Polly Pattullo for the Dominica UK Association.
The more I think of this electoral reform process is the more I think this whole process is being made more complicated than it needs to be.
We are not reinventing the wheel. All democratic countries have elections and they seem to be doing just fine.
Our problem is the corruption that has seeped into our electoral process
It’s Skerrit putting a smoke screen around a simple issue. The man is a liability to our country.
The moderation of these “consultations” left a lot to be desired. They were allowed to devolve into petty political one-upsmanship rather than citizens putting forward ideas to achieve something which Skerritt says he’s committed to having done. Some speakers came only to “poopoo” the ideas and suggestions of others rather than make submissions on what they would love to see in Dominica and how future elections are conducted. Some acted as if there is no provision in our existing constitution for the 5 year residency rule and the moderation allowed them spew hatred and division on the issue without pointing out that this provision exists in our election laws. We can look back and denounce the acceptance and tolerance of fascism but Adolph Hitler couldn’t have done it all by himself. The appeasers and enablers will attempt to point fingers but they will be as guilty as the autocrat.
Mr. Paris, you should try reading the history of Haiti before you start comparing Haiti to Dominica. Also overseas voters voting in Dominica should only use their passport as a means of ID, to avoid non citizens voting. There are individuals in Dominica who own only an American passport, they scorn the Dominican passport yet they are allowed to vote, simply because they are on the voters list.
Sometimes we tend to associate seniority with wisdom but that is not always true. Now here is a man, who is senior, experienced and has Wisdom. For that very reason his business in Dominica has been sidelined by the incumbent government.
Whether they would listen to his council now is probably unlikely given the usual hardheadedness of this government.
For example, on the question of “who” should lead the process of electoral reform? Shouldn’t all Dominicans ask why is the DLP under guise of Government be leading that charge? Most Dominicans are silent on the issue. Our country is modeling on Cuba and Venezuela yet we pretend that everything is alright..smh!
Dominicans need to be honest with themselves, and come to realize that Roosevelt Skerrit, and those who are benfiting from his corruption are not intrested in Electorial reform.
Dominica is the only place on the planet it has taken more than ten years of fixed the system.
Antiguans called for electoral reform and got it in less than six months; it is not a complicated issue, fact is Roosevelt Skerrit is playing a game, and people such as Stewart, has blinded himself to the game, and is in support of the Roosevelt corruption. He might as well grind his teeth, and shut up!
At the rate it is going by designed, there will never be any electoral reform in the country unless it going to be as Roosevelt and his paid assassin little corrupted boy Byron planed it to be in his favor!