Statement by Nature Island Dominica Civil Liberties Foundation Inc (NIDCLF INC) on the announcement of a snap general election in Dominica

The Executive and Board of Directors of the Nature Island Dominica Civil Liberties Foundation (NIDCLF) Inc wishes to place on the public record its grave concerns about the recent decision of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit to call a snap election on the very eve of the delivery of a report prepared by jurist Sir Dennis Byron about electoral reform in Dominica.

NIDCLF is a non-partisan organization dedicated to preserve our democratic way of life and the rule of law in Dominica. Its primary mandate is to raise funds to assist individuals, communities and institutions to seek judicial redress, in appropriate cases, where their rights have been infringed by state agents. The organization however, cannot remain silent in  the face of the Prime Minister’s recent decision regarding the date of the next general election which appears to be a cynical and calculated attempt to remain in office at any cost.

The basis for our concerns is as follows:

1. In 2008, one of Prime Minister Skerrit’s most senior lawyers warned him that electoral reforms contemplated by the Electoral Commission would “damage his winning legacy.”

2. In 2013, the Skerrit administration reportedly paid then attorney Mia Mottley (now Prime Minister) approximately $50,000 to do a report on electoral reform in Dominica. Mottley’s report was unceremoniously cast aside by one of the Prime Minister’s lawyers following its completion.

3. For the last three election cycles in 2009, 2014 and 2019, the Prime Minister, aided and abetted by a coterie of senior counsel and political acolytes, illegally imported thousands of Dominicans resident abroad, to vote in Dominica’s elections, despite existing legislation that disqualify them from doing so. They have done so with impunity largely because a) they have access to the proceeds of sale of Dominican passports much of which, according to an Al Jazeera expose two to three years ago, have been deposited to mysterious accounts worldwide; and b) the senior police hierarchy and the local Director of Public Prosecution have failed miserably to investigate, let alone prosecute these violations of Dominica’s electoral laws.

4. Following the December 2019 general election during which nineteen (19) aircraft were on the tarmac of the Douglas-Charles Airport, an unprecedented number in the history of the airport, Mr. Skerrit publicly declared that he would introduce electoral reform within one hundred days after the election.

5. In August 2020, the Prime Minister contracted with jurist Sir Dennis Byron, to produce a report on electoral reform in Dominica which would be incorporated in legislation to be enacted in Dominica’s parliament. He challenged Honourable Lennox Linton, the Official Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition, to join him in enacting the proposed legislation.

6. After the 2014 general election, three Dominicans challenged the legitimacy of the election, given what they alleged to have been widespread evidence of bribery and treating and an electoral list that contained the names of more voters than the official Dominican population. The Prime Minister challenged the validity of the charges all the way to the CCJ. The CCJ rejected the submissions of the Prime Minister’s counsel and returned the case to the Magistrate’s Court for trial. Following a request from the Prime Minister’s lawyers, the Director of Public Prosecutions discontinued the case, despite the CCC’s decision.

7. In 2019, ten persons challenged the validity of the general election in December 2019.    The court of first instance struck out the pleadings of the petitioners without an analysis of the substantive claims of the petitioners, a decision upheld first by the OECS Court of Appeal and then by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on July 6, 2022. The CCJ essentially ruled that the decision of the trial judge did not amount to a final decision and was therefore not appealable.

However, the CCJ was particularly scathing in its criticism of the manner in which the elections were conducted. The court noted at para. 108 that:

There remain areas of grave concern about how the process of these elections was conducted. FUTURE ELECTIONS IN DOMINICA OUGHT NOT TO PROCEED WITH THESE OR SIMILAR TAINTS (emphasis added).

On November 6, 2022, Sir Byron wrote to Prime Minister Skerrit advising him that he had completed his review of Dominica’s Registration of Electors Act and would disclose Part One of his proposals later in the month. He recommended that the amended legislation could be enacted in January 2023 and that Part Two of his report could be enacted in March/April 2023.

Prime Minister Skerrit announced the date of the next election on the very same night that Sir Byron advised him that electoral reform could be enacted in January 2023.  Based on this timeline NIDCLF believes that Prime Minister Skerrit’s decision to hold a general election on December 6, 2022 is a deliberate, cynical and capricious attempt to hold yet another general election without electoral reform.

NIDCLF therefore believes that to preserve the rule of law in Dominica, Dominicans should ensure that these elections do not take place on December 6, 2022.

Dominicans should not allow the Skerrit administration to rubbish Sir Byron’s report, which cost taxpayers’ some $650,000, to trample over electoral reform and to destroy free and fair elections in Dominica by having elections on December 6, 2022.

Dominicans have the inalienable right to exercise their constitutional rights of freedom of speech and assembly to collectively voice their opposition to the Prime Minister’s action.  Civic minded lawyers should explore the possibility of seeking injunctive relief from the courts, prior to December 6, 2022, to stop the planned election.  There is legal precedent for seeking such relief against a state and NIDCLF stands ready to assist in the financing of such an initiative. The fact that the Electoral Commission has not even been able to appoint returning officers to conduct the general election planned for December 6, 2022, is an added reason why this election should not proceed as planned.

Finally, it should be noted that the Skerrit administration has sold over 25,000 passports in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon and others. These newly minted economic citizens, many of whom have never set foot in Dominica, may well be eligible to vote in Dominica’s general elections, thereby significantly diluting the significance of the vote of a Dominican ordinarily resident on the island. Meaningful electoral reform, as envisioned by reports presented to the Skerrit administration in the past, would be a clear antidote to this scenario. However, this is exactly what Prime Minister Skerrit is trying to avoid.

In conclusion, NIDCLF stands with all civic minded organizations and patriots, to defend Dominica’s democracy against any tyranny.