Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit’s tough stance against parliamentary representatives who are not performing or under-performing is being supported by a former Dominica Freedom Party MP.
Trafalgar’s Henry George, a former minister of education, says he doesn’t support attorney Bernard Wiltshire’s comment that PM Skerrit’s approach to the matter suggests that he is becoming a dictator.
“I want to be in full support of the statement, because the fact is that after one wins the election one becomes complacent. And if you have to continue in government it means you must be on the ground, open your eyes, listen to the people’s problems, and try to assist them”.
According to George “the more you stay in government is the more it becomes difficult for you to win because there are more demands from the people, and you may not be prepared because you think you have spent all your resources – but you have to remain there, so you have to continue working”.
“The constituency does not belong to you, if you are pleasing the people, if you are satisfying the people you will stay there. If you are not doing that you will get out,” George told DNO.
He doesn’t see the Skerrit statement as trying to take over the role of the constituency in the selection of the parliamentary representative.
“I think what he wants to do is remind the parl rep, as the head of the house – I have a choice, I have to decide, with the people, if you are not performing,” is how George summed up the PM’s warning to Dominica Labour Party parliamentarians.
“I know that there are some parliamentarians who have not visited some areas in their constituency. I know that there are some MPs who don’t think that they represent people, they stay away from people,” the former Freedom Party MP said.
Georges says it is DLP political leader Roosevelt Skerrit’s right to tell his MPs that if they are not performing “there are other choices”.
He says he doesn’t expect the Skerrit decision to create difficulties between the political leader and parl reps who are de-selected and may feel that they have been victimized.
According to George PM Skerrit won’t be making any hasty decisions and his statement is primarily a warning to Labour parliamentarians that they need “to buck up”.
“I intend to deal with non-performing or poorly performing parliamentary representatives. No parl rep is bigger than the party, no parl rep is guaranteed automatic endorsement as a candidate in the next general election,” PM Skerrit said in his capacity as political leader of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP).
He was at the time addressing the party’s delegates’ conference in the West Coast village of St Joseph on Sunday.
“I intend to declare all constituencies vacant, and persons will have to make a case as to why they should be returned as a candidate for this Dominica Labour Party” the prime minister said to loud applause.
He warned that those who can’t or do not make a satisfactory case “for retention will be replaced as candidates”.
Former attorney general Bernard Wilshire who served in a Labour administration says that statement suggests that the prime minister regards selection as “a matter for him”.
“This man is becoming a dictator, he is getting too big for his boots. Dominicans must cut him down to size otherwise he will destroy them,” Wilshire said.
justina charles needs to get of the scene in grand bay totally!! and isnt there a party structure, with a chain of command and also a constitution as to how these decisions are carried out within the party structure? Skerrit understands that laborites are not entirely happy with the parl reps and this is his way of saying he knows!!
I FEEL THAT THIS IS A MOVE FOR THE PM TO FIRE A PARL REP.GUESS HE HAS HIS REASONS
First of all Mr. George is a former Freedom Party parliamentarian and government minister but he has been and is currently an active supporter of the Labour Party from the day Mr. Norris Charles and the UWP defeated him. I expected Mr. George to support any and everything the PM says and/or does. Mr. George is well aware that in our democracy, the PM cannot) at least should not be able to) declare all constituencies vacant. This is an issue to be determined by constituents and the Party’s leadership structure. Strangely, both Mr. George and Mr. Wiltshire are correct. I respect both gentlemen as good citizens who have and continue to make their respective contributions to the development of Dominica. Let’s keep the dialogue alive.
I UNDERSTAND THE POINT THE PM IS SEEKING TO MAKE BUT HE HAS TO BE CAREFUL HOW IT COMES ACROSS. DEMOCRACY IS THE KEY PRINCIPLE WE HAVE TO SAFE GUARD. ANY ONE MAN RULE OR INSTRUCTION IS DANGEROUS. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO CONSENSUS? PEOPLE VOTE …HOLES ALL THE TIME BECAUSE OF THEIR RATIONALE. THIS UNDERSCORES THE FACT THAT A CONSTITUENCY MAY SELECT A LAZY OR INDEED AN ALCOHOLIC PARLIAMENTARY REPRESENTATIVE. LET US KEEP DEMOCRACY ALIVE WHILE WE EDUCATE DOMINICANS AND HELP ERADICATE THIS CANCEROUS LEVEL OF IGNORANCE AND STUPIDITY THAT WILL KEEP US IN THE CORRIDOR OF POVERTY IF IT CONTINUES.
All the government ministers have agreed and declared to the public that every thing that happens in government is solely as a result of Skerrit. Even Timothy said that Skerrit is a better PM than he could ever be. So what is the problem?
Henry has begun singing. Sing Henry Sing. Dominicans must keep their on Henry to see how he will soon be benefitting personally. PAY ATTENTION.
who will evaluate the dismal performance of Skerrit? All his ministers have already given him high marks, the same ministers that he is now giving low marks. We therefore must view the high marks that his ministers gave him as bogus and without basis, since now even Skerrit himself is now questioning the competence of these very ministers who gave him high marks. HA, HA, HA.
SING HENRY SING.
The problem with Mr Wilshere is in Dominica for all those years we just go with the flow. The PM is correct when he say do the job or i will find someone who is willing to do it. You have to be part on management to understand. Why should i pay u to just show up for work and do nothing? The next people he should evaluate at is the lazy police officers.
Mr. George’s comments are quite accurate. His observations are actually quite refreshing. When one is elected to serve, the oath of office and the desire to help elevate their constituency must and should always be stronger than the need to be self-centered and lazy.
Sounds like we are ready to cross the table. Is that the first step in doing so? Sounds like it. Way papa red in my eyes…..its that the same bug you are getting MR…….lol
Ithought is Ian alone that could sing we.. Henry can sing too then? I guess is for his supper though.
I fully endus Skerrit statement on the position he took as it relates to none performing parlreps and also support Mr Henry George for the statement he made.Now my view is when you are hated by some people nothing you said will matter to them and Skerrit statement proves that.Reading the comments I was surprise to see the amount of support wilshire got and how Mr george was insulted because he support the prime minister.It tells me that once someone support thte prime minister they will be castigated, cause we just dont look at the reality of the matter before we criticize or disagree.I’m not seeing anything wrong wit the statement that proves that Skerrit is acting like a dictator.The truth of the matter is there really are parlrep that dont check their people and we all knows that,just recently the bus drivers of scotts head protested about their roads wilshire and his group give strong support to the protest,if the parlrep had a close relationship with his people there would not have a need for the protest.So again i endus skerrit statement and my advice to him is just continue to do and say wat is needed to be said and done without worring bout those critics,remember that they are your enemies and even if you let Jesus come dome from heaven they will still criticize you.I LOVE YOU PM good words of advice.I’m listening
sing henry ….sing man sing man sing……
Mr George is on point the only thing he reserved his best advise for the Labor party Pal Reps and did not follow his own advise while in the Freedom party. Hope he not thinking of a come back. A valley man is looking.
Mr. Skerrit, the Wesley Constituency is one of them….by the way, who is our Parl Rep AGAIN? Cuz it appears like we dont have one at all
A good manager duplicates themselves. If Skerrit thinks he is doing well, he is right on target to except the same from his staff.
It is what a good manager do, hire, train, motivate, train some more and fire staff.
We all know some of the MP ‘s are not performing, but when the PM says it, and ready to take up the matter, we don’t think he should.
It has nothing to do with dictatorship. ITS MANAGEMENT 101!
A team is as strong as its weakest link. Get the weak links out!
part of management lol is also ethics. that matter could have been taken care of internally why berate your mp’s infront of the crowd? this goes to show i am the big man and i’m your boss. its not what was said(not now parl reps not pulling their weight) is how it was said and where it was said.
If I am not 100% correct, I am certain I am almost correct that the reason he is getting on Skerrit’s side might be because he is looking for a bit of the pie!
UWP is all but dead; DFP is actually dead, so the man is trying now to slide into the Labor Party via the backdoor.
One of the reasons we do not make progress in our country is practically due to the old career politicians.
The jump ship very often in order to maintain some political employment. The irony of this is that people in our country are so blind they are not capable of detecting, or seeing what these waste of time career politicians are up to.
An politician spends more than fifteen years on the political scene within a party which was in government for all of these years; their party lost the election because they produced nothing in the fifteen years the island remained the same, if anything the island became worst off than when they took power in the country.
Five or ten years later, their original party is long buried, they evoke themselves from the dead, and try to impress the people ” if you elect me this time I will change Dominica.”
Anybody who would patronized those old career politician, and cast a vote in their favor should be noted as a fool!
If you had five, or ten years; or how long you were in power, and you could not have accomplished anything then, how on earth are they going to produced this time around?
If I lack the ability to function five years ago, what would have given me this sudden ability to work wonders in the country today?
It is my opinion that he is simply trying to make a comeback via the Labor Party, the same as Timothy and others has done!
It should be noted that lately the old timers in the DFP are giving praises to the late Eugenia Charles; that is pile of psychology at work, the intention is that if they can convince Dominicans that Eugenia worked wonders for the country within those fifteen years she could not have done it alone.
Therefore her subordinates must have played a part in her performance, and so if they can convince people of that; perhaps the people may vote for this guy who is pretending to give support to Skerrit. There is a saying ” if you cannot beat then, the alternative is to join them.”
Do not be fooled Dominicans!
If I am an idiot today, it is likely I will be one tomorrow, and forever oui!
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
Mr George could not command any respect from Dame Eugenia because she had the Balls in the Freedom Government, now Mr is not singing for his supper, but he is around the table. There is no need for him to cross the floor.
PM I agree with you 100%…and Mr George to…Ive said this on there MR Ambrose George is one of the first to go and i think mt Pm was saying it to him especially. This man has done nothing, NOTHING for this constituency period!….i hve complained about our roads, the are the worse – Castle Comfort, Wall House, Egleston and Giraudel – doh talk! You never ever see the man, is those boom boom flies – they know themselves he listening too. He forget that they are not representative of the Roseau South Constituency…they tell him wat he likes to hear an he seem to forget that ppl vote for the PM not him – i for one didnt! I am not voting next election and if he running even worst! There are quite a few ppl who are saying that…dont count on the votes he received last election, ppls came out not to vote for Ambrose, who cldnt even arrange buses for supporters to travel – as Egleston and Giraudel supporters – but for Skerro! PM….HE NEEDS TO GO…PLUS HE SAID HE WOULD RETIRE…NOW I HEAR HE RUNNING AGAIN…WELL AS IVE SAID BEFORE…I WILL NOT AND I REPEAT NOT FOR AMBROSE…I RATHER VOTE FOR BLACKMORE, BC I KNOW IF HE COMES TO MY CONSTITUENCY AT LEAST MY ROADS WILL B REPAIRED!
Reading the above comments and the remarks of Henry George, i beg to differ and support Burnard Wiltshire, first of all wiltshire was never a parliamentary representative representing any district, and so most of the above comments are null and void, secondly Henry George did make some good observation in that the constituency do not belong to any one and so it is the will of the constituents to nominate their rep and not any individual not even the prime minister, and if the prime minister was so concerned every week he sits in cabinet with these very people why then should he stab his collogues in back in the public domain and not discussing internally, wiltshire is right the P M wants to impress people with his dictatorial attitude, just that when one is in love one cannot see any wrong in his/her partner and i see that as Mr Georges’ position.
It is a dlegate conference, what is your hoopla
Mr. Henry George is right on target. That is also what I understood the PM to be saying. He was admonishing the ‘slackers’ on his team, who don’t keep in contact with their constituents etc.. and telling them to buck up.
I am pretty close to 100% certain that Wiltshire also knew that’s what the PM meant. However, he is playing his political game, saw an opportunity and pounced on it.
The real shame is on the people who refuse to think and analyze statements and situations themselves, and allow politicians with agendas to tell them what to think.
Right on points
The real shame is that you give no credit to people for thinking for themselves and recognising the signs when they appear. What Wiltshire said is what many Dominicans thought when they heard the statement and those in the labour party know that they have encountered just such an attitude in the past as it relates to them choosing their candidates.
Having said that, I do believe that many of the Pal.Reps. at present and in the past, are only interested in the people when the time comes for voting.
Skeritt told voters to vote for him, it was all about him so what he talking about parl reps now ?????????? What you reap you sow.
Listen to Mr george talk, and you would say he did better under the freedom party government. For 15 years the guy was the MP for the Valley, but to show what he did is nothing, but he have to follow the rat where the cheese is, and come in support of the PM.Who feels it, know it.
a second mr. charles maynard , a replacement . singing for their supa. hmmmmm
I AGREE WITH MR GEORGE,GRANDBAY IS ONE OF THOSE PLACE MR GEORGE AND THOSE PEOPLE FAIL TO OPEN THEIR EYE…………
P.M come to soufrie and listen to us too,we have a rep thats really doing nothing for us,scotts head gallion also needs a visit from you for you to ear us
Wiltshire had an opportunity to do good but what did he do when he was Attorney General
he was a labourite that time , thats why he didnt perform. lol
Little Tommy Tucker, sings for his supper
Security guards singing for their supper now wi. Encore Bunchey encore.
never know the could talk
thee moo moo talking now
Henry pls give the same support to Pata. Just saying.
Who is pata is she a minister of government
I like to shoot straight so DNO allow to say that while I understand that Henry dyer is probably looking to replace Charles Maynard – Henry is only stating the obvious – that is – the parliamentarians must honor their oath of office. In other words stop bilking the treasury under false pretence. What Henry fail to acknowledge is that the PM is not solely responsible for constituent representation.
Mr Ambrose ought to take this statement from the PM as a direct attack as MR Ambrose is responsible for constituent affairs- a ministry never heard off.
Finally where are the voices as Henry Dyer or Heskieth Alexander when so much is going wrong in government; the obvious corruption, the alarming poverty level, and unemployment; th mis carriage of justice, the demise and destruction of farmers and agriculture, the indiscriminate sale of passports, the layout river hotel debacle ? Real men acknowledge their errors ,pick themselves up dust off and move on. The likes of Henry Dyer, Heskieth, Charles Saverin went down that dirt road and are now to full of themselves to acknowledge their errors. Instead they are all still waiting to feed from that filthy trough of corruption and shame.
All you are saying is ‘Henry Dyer’the article spoke about Henry George , not Henry Dyer
SHAME on you Wiltshire!!! what do you mean Dominicans must “cut him dowm”??? So now you want to order us to kill the PM Wiltshire?? Thats how low you are stooping man??? We are a peace loving people so behave yourself. Your words are shockingly arrogant and uncalled for!
Is this a case of déjà vu, as it pertains to the way you performed when you were a DFP rep?? Domestic issues etc hindered your performance???
DNO, why are my comments not posted??
Thats why Parry said they were not performing, he was refering to the pal-reps not the ordinary workers
Well said Henry George. You were there once as an MP so you speak from experience. You did your bit.
Tell that to Bernard it is the mans right, thats the job of a manager, if he had shut up about the mp’s who are not performing they will find a problem. Skerrit they do want yo uto guard your house they want it to fall on you.
I SUPPORT HENRY GEORGE 100 % AND YOU HAVE MADE ALOT OF SENSE THATS A VOICE OF BRAINS AND EXPERIENCE I HAVE ALWAYS RESPECTED YOUR INTELLECT AND FRANKNESS. YOUR MY MENTOR SIR GEORGE.
hOWEVER I NEED YOU TO KNOW ONE THING THAT AMBROSE GEORGE NEEDS TO STEP DOWN AMD MAKE WAY FOR A NEW PARL REP HE HAS FAILEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD THE ROSO SOUTH IN SO MANY WAYS DUE TO INCOMPLETE REPRESENTATION AND A DEGINITE CHANGE IS NEEDED. THE CRY IS EVERYWHERE EVEN HIS KEY SUPPORTERS WHO ARE NOT HIS STOOGES ARE SAYING THIS!
SKERRO MA LOVE YOU CARRY MY LOAD COME TO NEWTOWN AND HAVE A TOWN HALL METTING BELOW THE CHURCH AND YOU WILL FEEL THE PULSE OF LABOURITES IN ROSO SOUTH WE HAVE GENUINE COMPLAINTS ABOUT REPRESENATION!
CHUPES WHATEVER THE NO MORE AMBROSE
But Ambrose got a lot more votes this time, whats wrong??
Ambrose George was fired twice by two different Prime Ministers, the present PM including. And then he turned around and presented George to you guys again and you guys voted him back in.
What were you guys expecting?
Boy, politics is a very dirty game you know…
1oo% correct mr henry and pm if you not performing no need to represent and the country i am presently living in my pal rep i only see him one week before an election all now he is in his second term and i have not seen him election coming soon i can bet my last dime am going to see him a week from voting and this is not fair so the pm is RIGHT to say what he say.BUT MY VOTING FINGER WILL DO THE RIGHT THING ON ELECTION DAY.
It’s amazing how all of a sudden everybody have their 2 cents on how lazy their palreps are but next election they still voting for the same person…Who are you voting for?The labour party or the person that you only see during election..Get Real People..Doh matter what the PM say or do all allu seeing is RED…MAGWASAY…
Sometimes politics, like economics, is purely a matter of alternatives. Magway sa!
Mr. George you are a respected senior citizen so no ned to sign for your supper. The point is, the parlreps cannot help the constituents when they are not empowered to do so. My parlrep is a hardworker and listens to his constituents but he also tells us (quietly) that there is nothing he can do. The PM has to take resposibility for his failed strategy (one man Cabinet/ Government) and stop behaving like the parlreps are lazy etc. El Supremo like too much bravado and he has just thrown his guys under the bus to save his behind. What kind of leader is that?
Thanks for your contribution, Mr George. I agree with your point.
sing HENRY sing man sing man sing…..