The Peoples Democratic Movement has suggested that bribery tactics were used to secure victory in Friday’s general elections.
The PDM fielded candidates in the Cottage, Portsmouth and St Joseph constituencies, but failed to capture any seats.
Leader of the PDM Dr William Para Riviere said in a statement on Monday, that there was an exceptionally high level of bribery, fraud and intimidation surrounding the December poll.
“By no measure whatsoever can this election be said to have been free and fair and we are left to wonder where our country is headed,” he said.
Dr. Riviere has called upon the Dominican people to make the best of the season, urging all patriotic individuals to recharge their batteries for the struggle ahead.
Tags: Election 2009
Bravo, you were not mistaken
All those prophets of gloom and doom. You remember when Roosie Douglas won in 2000, you gave his party 6 months to live. Stop giving the country water mouth. Words are powerful and it will come back to haunt you. Skerritt have plenty old ladies rolling the rosary for him and this is a powerful tool especially the rosary of liberation, WATCH OUT
time for dpminica to start moving continuously and freezing everytime an election calls.skerrit was the chosen one.the one the people(MAJORITY) has chosen.the others don’t believe in fate.the world has to look to dominica and in it’s people for direction.get real with it.lennox move on.bring your family to a picnic.enjoy life.learn to smile.freeup.mr james the time has come.retire and enjoy your money.stop opposing and get for marigot.RON????
Sir / Madame,
I agree with you 100%. I live out of DA, and have always been Neutral in this election but have been a supporter of the Freedom party in “our ” days, and every UWP Supporter I converse with from back home was unable to tell me exactly what are the corruption isses, all I keep hearing is “dominicans going up to Skerrit on RED Wednesday” for money, I also keep reading these nonsense nonsensical newsmen/women who seem to be favoring the UWP and I was just unable to pin what ever they were trying to say. I think UWP thought they would be able to do the very same thing that was done when we got tired of “how Mamo was treating my Rep Brian Alleyen” that is vote them in. In this day and time, a REAL Political Party cannot expect to win an elcetion just like that.
I admire Mrs Pestana for her bold stand, who knows she may just be able to bring the Freedom Party back however my small advise to her is “ensure your spokes people are screened” and KNOW what they are about. This young mum from Sailsbury was a mistake, she was not ready, you should have left this place void instead.
And to our PM and his Party, I say Congrats, I do hope that you will prove to all of us that you are OUR Prime Minister too, because I am a voter of the Potenial Best One thats why here in the US I am an INDEPENDANT voter.
Marigotian, it is good to know that there are some who will never give in so stay strong and hold down the fort. The very future of the country will depend on those 3 seats, on how much you can keep this government accountable. If you allow them to be a runaway train then all hope for Dominica will be lost.
You are the only light left so let it shine.
S.J the “P.M” will never have 21 seats because Marigot people are not foolsih and we can’t be bought so we will NEVER vote for Skerrit so i cant tell you that the two things he will never see is 21 labour seats in parliament and Gods face !!!
The UWP lost the election for the following reasons:
1. They had no consistent message on issues and policies for the development of Dominica.
2. The UWP made corruption its main issue during the campaign while issues and policies for the development of Dominica (as mentioned above) took a distant second place. Note that these corruption allegations has not been substantiated. ..
3. The UWP never connected with the masses because of number two above. They got tired of it, just like the people of the US got tired of the “Obama is not an American citizen” argument preached by the ultra-conservatives during the presidential campaign.
4. The UWP allowed some so called ‘journalists’ to be their mouth piece during the campaign. These journalist, of all people, should know that opinion should be based, no matter how loosely, on facts. In their “fact free” paradise these journalists felt free to bash anyone who did not agree with them without giving any reason except personal dislike or distaste. All they did was spew negativity. Hate speech, no matter how genteel, is not journalism..
Furthermore the UWP has lost its core political message. The UWP burst on the scene in the waning days of Mamo who had foreseen the fall of the banana industry and wanted to diversify the Dominican economy. Edison James, a banana farmer himself, basically argued that diversification was the enemy of the ordinary working man, the farmer. He pointed out that thousands of farmers would lose the only source of livelihood they knew (cultivating banana), plunging the country into chaos if the economy was diversified. Being a largely agricultural society and fearful of losing their livelihood, the populace listened to Mr. James and jumped on his UWP bandwagon en masse.
When Mamo died, the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) crumbled and the idea of diversifying the Dominican economy went down the drain.
Eventually the banana industry did die, as Mamo had foreseen, when the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled that the LOME Convention (which gave preferential treatment to bananas from former European colonies, including Dominica’s, of course), was unfair international trading.
While our banana growing neighbors had diversified or were diversifying, Dominica hung on to the idea that the banana industry would last forever and missed the boat. This was a fatal blunder of the Edison James administration and the effects are being felt to this day.
Since then the UWP has not come up with something that appeal to the masses as it’s anti diversification argument had and support for it has slowly diminished. The evidence is clear from the last two general elections.
The UWP need to go back to the drawing board and rethink its political philosophy, its core message, its ideal, its vision. If not they will continue losing elections and eventually join the DFP in the political graveyard.
when the labour party have 21 seat next election the pm will just do what he wants with Dominica and there will be no one to oppoise him dominicans will just have to take it………….because they that put him there to be there master…………………..
Legal issues seemed to have popped up right through the election campaigns yet there have been more allegations and no evidence to back it up.
Let’s face it: The same play field (constitution) that gave the Freedom party 3 terms in office and UWP 1 is the same one used by the DLP.
It is clear that those that are advocating amending the constitution to facilitate their desire will forever want it amended it when their objective are not met.
Free and fair is when all can perform under the same rules and regulation.
It is proven that petitioning to the arbitrator will not win you the game
Some want to preside over the Political game and contest it at the same time.
Why don’t para go sit in a corner and shut his trap. He is jumping on the opposition’s train and yelling ‘unfair’ ‘unfair’. Please! There is only one real powerful party in Dominica and that is the Dominica Labour Party. They will be here for years to come as long as Skerrit is the leader!!! 18 Seats…next time 21 seats are guranteed…..(if there’s a next election ever again).
‘Excited’
STOP PREACHING DOOM AND GLOOM!! IS THAT WHAT POLITICS DO TO A PERSON!! ANY OF YOU. STOP WISHIN BAD AND AS THEY SAY YOU WISH BAD FOR ME I WISH YOU TRIPLE THE AMOUNT DOES THAT SEEM FAIR
if we are a BIBLE believing nation we would know that the heavenly father comes first then family then other people country is not in the top three. ISAIAH 3:4 says And i will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 3:12 says As for my people,children are their oppressors, and woman rule over them. O my people, they that lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.
So just because you send money home means you should come and vote. If someone have not lived in DA for 15 years you think its fair they come to vote. I find that laughable, crazy even. I mean on what planet does that even make sense. I know we love our country and want to support our party but what if all the people in DA wanted one party, but the people in the Diaspora wanted another party? Do you think it fair because that other party had enough money they could bring down their supporters to vote just to give them power. What about the people actulally living in the country?
There must be restrictions. I am not saying once you go away you can’t vote, but there must be a time frame on it or something. Most of my family lives in the diaspora, and they have no right to choose my government. When they move back home, they can vote if they want. If that means they want to keep their barrels that they send twice or three times a year, go right ahead. That I can live with.
I’ll assert this coherently: If the Dominican Ppl are being trick, deceive or deluded in anyway that is opaque to them, time will tell the hard truth, because time is the only thing that will explain exhaustively uncovered info. But, at present, if you can’t manifest hard evidence, there is no point in making these assertions that have no background and are significantly groundless.
i would like to ask mr para who are the membersof the PDM cause he is always saying we in the pdm and i never heard someone say they are a memberof the pdm .one person i think he had before the election and the person stand down so i believe the people of dominica deserve an answer.
waiting .
Mr. Para,
Were the tactics that you are refering to the same tactics that you and your people used to try to get ownership of people property. Answer that question for us Mr. Politician. The observers were present and the elections were free and fair….The recounts are normal procedures base on the margin of victory.
Case Closed
I’ll tell you where our country is headed, it’s like on a Saturday morning where all the sheep are being led to the slaughter house and they’re not even aware of it…..poor creatures. There is also a “personality cult” going on which is a very bad sign, slowly but surely things will unfold, but it is already too late because the butcher is ready to do his job.
yes para, you paid the youngsters money to put up flyers for you, and after they would dress in their red shirts and go on Labour train. You said Regie did nothing for Lagoon but the proof is there for everyone to see Para. How do you expect for you to win Regie in Cottage and how do you expect these long time Labour supporters to leave what they have to follow you. You do not have a vision for the country! just power you are looking for with no substantial support. Don’t come with that game now and talk about bribe. If one did it, all did it because you did not win then you want to talk.
So they can’t vote, but can send their money. Quit the bull talk. I have a Dominican passport, live and work outside where i can’t vote, and you fools are telling me that i can’t come home to vote?
There were many issues here that party supporters chose to ignore.
1. While I am not versed in the constitution, there must be some clause that states that people who are not living in Dominica for more than 5 years should not be allowed to vote. It is just unfair, that these people, some of who has no intention of returning home, or who have no idea what the daily struggle is, should influence an election in this way.
2. The paying of airfare tickets and giving people per diem (pocket change) is simple bribery, paint it red, blue or green. It is wrong. I don’t care who did first! If people are eligible to vote who are out of Dominica then some systems need to be put in place to facilitate this where they reside.
3. The voters list needs to be cleaned up! Voter ID cards or some other form of ID should be required. The system of voting needs to be updated. I mean a pencil, a pencil to vote! How easy is this to mess around with. In this day and age we can do better.
4. Campaign financing needs to be addressed. It was not an issue before, but when one party can access millions of dollars from God knows where, then this affects the outcome as well. The current administration has found an efficient way to win an election ” throw money at it” There needs to be standards as to where money is sourced for running campaigns and declarations to that effect, with documenttary evidence.
It is unfortunate what has happened in this elections. Naturally the supporters of the DLP are thrilled. Who can blame them? They won! But at what costs? Democracy is not only about being able to vote, for surley we have that right in Dominica. Democracy is about a free and FAIR election and sadly this was a textbook case of an unfair election.
I will hope that this administration, seeing the issues that has been raised will address them as any fair minded government should.
until then I await the outcome and hope for the best.
Come on PARA. Why should you be so overly concerned about politics now? For your age, you ought to get yourself a charlice, some spliff and some machouchrie and enjoy your retirement. Come on! Skerrit while not perfect is doing a damn good job!
Cheers Man PARA.
Dr. Riviere,
You to are a sour loser. Stop casting aspersions and bring the evidence and take the matter to court or forever hold your peace. Surely if somebody bribes their way to an election victory, this is a serious crime. Take the matter to the relevant authorities – you are a lawyer isn’t it. Stop playing around with people’s emotions. You will find that the people of Dominiva have no me for laziness.
They stole Ron’s seat right infront of his eyes. I listened to the results of the polls and they knew that Ron was going to loose. How I know that? Well they were reading the results for Grand Bay then came the results for La Plaine. They all laughed and said, listen we know where Grand Bay going so lets go to La Plain. Well the votes were in Ron greens favor they all acted surprised and sour.
It was like they were saying “guys something is wrong, who messed up? The plans did not work’. Ron won by 12 votes, a re count was done the following day and he lost by two votes? where the h*ll the extra 14 votes came from when there were only 7 spoilt ballots? Who packed the ballot box the night of the election? But give it 666 (6+6+6 = 18 months) and we will see, just hold on, remember Dominica that you voted for it.
way gas. if u lookin for a leader would u call para. NO NO NO
pack your bag and take a trip para. u have no vision to rule a country.
take your party and get lost.
labour all the way.
True indeed, i will always put my country first but something is wrong my fellow Dominicans. Be prepared for what’s ahead.