ERC delegation delivers proposed electoral amendments to offices of PM, President and Electoral Commission

 

ERC press conference

Amendments on electoral reform, approved by the Peoples Electoral Reform Legislation, were delivered by a delegation from the Electoral Reform Coalition (ERC) to the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, and Her Excellency the President of Dominica, on Friday, August 9.

At a public meeting held at the Arch in Roseau on Sunday, July 7, 2024, the People’s Electoral Reform Legislation Amendments were approved by the People’s Parliament.

Chairman/Coordinator Electoral Reform Coalition(ERC) Johnson Boston at a press conference called on the people of Dominica to remain steadfast in the Electoral Reform struggle. “We have engaged in this exercise for quite some time and we would appreciate that we have been on this journey for quite a while in terms of reform.”

“I remember some years ago after the elections, we observed the way in which the election was conducted and the behavior of the ruling party. A number of voters said they were really scared, because it was going around that the government would know who voters voted for. We were concerned and we felt there is a need for reform in Dominica,” Boston explained.

Boston’s opinion is that electoral reform is very important, as elections have consequences and there should be proper electoral laws to guide the process to make the playing field level, transparent,  free, and provide for democratic  participation in our electoral process.

According to Boston, in light of this, the ERC presented its proposed amendments after contributions and work from different individuals such as lawyers, ERC members, and citizens.”We have studied what the government put out as the electoral draft legislation, also looked at our current electoral laws, recommendations by Sir Dennis Byron, and submitted to government.”

He added, “A number of the areas the government has in their draft, we have no issue with that. However, major issues such as campaign finance, reform, and a number of other areas Sir Dennis Byron recommended, we ourselves have recommended and discussed, were omitted from the government’s electoral draft legislation.”

Therefore, at the meeting dubbed the People’s Parliament, the people approved the Peoples Electoral Legislation Amendments, and the proposed amendments were delivered to the Prime Minister, President of Dominica, and Chairman of the Electoral Commission. Unfortunately, we did not meet the Prime Minister, we made the presentation to his secretary who was very welcoming, a presentation to the office of the Electoral Commission on behalf of the Chairman of Electoral Commission, then proceeded to the office of the President of Dominica where we also delivered the document to the secretary for the President of Dominica.”

He asserted that as responsible citizens things have to be done properly, and work along with the authorities. “We respect the Office of the Prime Minister and Office of the President. We recognize that there is a role for the Electoral Commission in terms of being the referee in our electoral process, and even our law that guides them says they should not take any orders.

They have the authority to work on their own and to ensure that all parties and voters are properly advised and supervised. Therefore we believe they have to take their role seriously. The prime minister of the country is also the leader of a political party. Therefore he cannot be allowed to manipulate and take sole control of the work that has to be done by the Electoral Commission,” said Boston.

He further took the opportunity to appeal to the Prime Minister of Dominica to use his office and also to members of parliament, to recognize that this is not being done for a single political party but for our country Dominica.

“So we are looking forward to the document we have presented that they can look at those things recognize the effort and work done, and the value of the document presented and take it as serious efforts by the citizens who want us to have a good set of reform that would guide politics in Dominica properly, that can provide unity and harmony, that all of us can appreciate. So there can be an amicable settlement of this long-standing election issue,” Boston said.

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3 Comments

  1. Labour power
    August 14, 2024

    The PEOPLE of Dominica did not give UWP ERC the authority to deliver any electoral amendment to anybody.Lazy do nothing losers.

  2. August 13, 2024

    What if other groups also present recommendations based on their political colors. In politics there must be compromise. However this process of electoral reform is been unnecessarily prolonged by unelected groups and individuals who seems to be hungry for power.

  3. KID ON THE BLOCK
    August 12, 2024

    Can WE THE PEOPLE( in majority) see the proposed Amendments, please?!

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