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In an attempt to remedy the plight of a plethora of incompetence in the government of the ruling\u00a0Dominica Labour Party, Prime Minister Doctor, Doctor Roosevelt Skerrit has purged his party and\u00a0cabinet in a manner that is only precedented by the old-time communist regimes of Stalin, Polpot and\u00a0others.<\/p>\n
Labour Party followers who gathered in Londonderry in pure cultist style, dressed in all forms of red,\u00a0with drums and other paraphernalia, ready to go to battle for another five year term, left Londonderry\u00a0dejected, confused, disappointed, angry and in a daze as to what had hit them.<\/p>\n
A party that appeared to be so formidable and well poised to win 21 seats, the dream of the political\u00a0leader, was in total chaos, with the rank and file membership wondering if they can even win the next\u00a0general elections. The Labour Party hierarchy, with all their wisdom, had given a wanna-be dictator full\u00a0authority to select candidates of his choice for the next general elections and he blew it. Now they are in\u00a0damage control mode and they want to change the narrative, but the United Workers Party pleads the\u00a0fifth.<\/p>\n
Whereas the cabinet ministers took pride in attributing all their successes to the right honourable\u00a0Doctor, Doctor Roosevelt Skerrit, the greatest political leader Dominica, and by extension the World, has\u00a0ever seen, they never realized that they were exposing their incompetence and their inability to\u00a0perform. Not one government minister ever took credit for their performance, it was always the Doctor.<\/p>\n
At long last the fa\u00e7ade of the Dominica Labour Party government has been unmasked and it is poetic\u00a0justice and extremely ironic that the unmasking has taken place in the heat of the calypso season, hours\u00a0after the calypso semi-finals which merited much discussion on the judges\u2019 decision of the final nine,\u00a0who will meet the Bobb at the grand finals. How on earth did Hunter make it to the finals with this\u00a0carbon copy \u201cSpoon and Fork In Napkin,\u201d should have been the topic for discussion, but no, the Doctor\u00a0Doctor had to steal the show with the most dramatic unmasking of a farce which the Dominican\u00a0population has been living with for almost twenty years.<\/p>\n
The Dominica Labour Party took pride in presenting itself as the most united, cohesive and unbreakable\u00a0political party Dominica has ever seen. Those who did not tow the line left voluntarily out of frustration\u00a0for not being able to impact their influence on the rest of the party supporters. It appeared that the\u00a0Doctor had everything under control and then the unmasking came and left the Labour Party\u00a0dumbfounded and even the opposition United Workers Party speechless, to the extent that the UWP\u00a0decided not to comment.<\/p>\n
An opposition party gets a gift on a platter to emasculate its opponent, for the first time in the last\u00a0fifteen years, the UWP decides to take the fifth and impose their right to remain silent in fear that\u00a0anything that they say may be held against them in the upcoming electoral court of justice. Here lies\u00a0Dominica\u2019s problem; an incompetent government that gets rid of two thirds of its ministers as it\u00a0approaches twenty years of control over the Dominican economy and an opposition that does not\u00a0recognize the need to take advantage of a golden opportunity to present itself as a viable alternative.<\/p>\n
How can Doctor, Doctor Roosevelt Skerrit fire two thirds of his cabinet, retain the most incompetent and\u00a0blatantly corrupt among them, replace the discarded with novice candidates with the least political\u00a0experience Dominica has ever seen and yet the opposition pleads the fifth? The Doctor insults the\u00a0intelligence of the Dominican population that the change they have been asking for has finally arrived,\u00a0not with a fifth term in office for the Dominica Labour Party but with the first term of the second four term cycle. Dominicans appear to have swallowed this new theory and the opposition\u2019s response seems\u00a0to be in agreement.<\/p>\n
The Doctor, Doctor\u2019s action gives rise to many concerns but the two most significant are; 1) what type of\u00a0cabinet ministers would allow themselves to be humiliated in the manner in which they were with the\u00a0Doctor discarding them in the eyes of the world and they remain in the government awaiting an election\u00a0which they have no idea when it will be called.<\/p>\n
2).The Doctor, Doctor is a gambler, he is boldface and must have a hold over his group of incompetent\u00a0ministers to the extent that he can fire them; tell the world that they are useless but not one will take\u00a0objection.\u00a0The Doctor, Doctor\u2019s only promise to them is that they will be taken care of well, apparently through a\u00a0hefty compensation package that should include cash and a position of authority such as\u00a0ambassadorships. Some of the discarded only served one term and will not qualify for parliamentary\u00a0pension.<\/p>\n
A Dominica Labour Party victory at the next general elections will bring in the most inexperienced,\u00a0novice and incompetent government Dominica and the Caribbean have ever seen. It is generally\u00a0accepted that the ministers who were retained were the most incompetent and corrupt.<\/p>\n
The remnants of the cabinet were retained for different reasons; you do not upset Portsmouth; you\u00a0cannot touch the Rotweiler; cannot take a chance with the military man and the remaining three ladies\u00a0are as meek as lambs, they are there to compliment the rest of the female team who he hopes to join\u00a0him.<\/p>\n
So, in pure Gaddafi style, the Doctor, Doctor has sought refuge from his caucus of women who he hopes\u00a0will protect him from any male chauvinistic threat. With ten women, including his wife, and himself, the\u00a0Doctor, Doctor will be insulated from any potential threat. It will be interesting to see who the King will\u00a0appoint as his successor, the obvious choice will be the queen, but the unconstitutional deputy will not\u00a0take it lying down, so some more drama will surface down the road. The only other potential threat was\u00a0redeployed to Roseau North in a suicidal move. He must have been well compensated for his\u00a0treacherous defection from the UWP, now he can afford to end his political career.<\/p>\n
Dominica\u2019s ascension to maturity, when life should begin at 40, appears to be challenged with a\u00a0Dominica Labour Party administration, the first three years of which will be for training the new,\u00a0inexperienced recruits in the basics of governance. If after almost twenty years the incumbents could\u00a0not step up to the plate, the expectations from the new group are definitely lower and since the\u00a0opposition has taken the fifth, it is unclear that their slate of candidates will be any better.<\/p>\n
Dominica appears to be confronting a crisis of incompetent or inadequate parliamentary representation.\u00a0The two major political parties have succeeded in scaring capable persons away from involvement in\u00a0active politics through their vitriol, slander and demonization to the extent that those who present\u00a0themselves for Labour are usually well compensated financially so therefore the Price is Right and on the\u00a0other hand those who present themselves for the UWP are sufficiently bitter and angry, so they are\u00a0prepared to face the insults and demonization. Others lament the disintegration of the political\u00a0environment in Dominica and whisper in fear of being heard or aligned by either of the competing\u00a0tribes.<\/p>\n
The recent action of Doctor, Doctor Roosevelt Skerrit in discarding more than two-thirds of his cabinet is\u00a0admittance of his government\u2019s failure over the last twenty years. If the discarded ones are worse than\u00a0those he retained, then this says a lot. The population awaits the next move of the UWP, but so far their\u00a0slate of candidates does not appear to be any better than what the Doctor, Doctor presented and\u00a0Dominica may very well be confronted with the worst set of candidates since independence.<\/p>\n
Now is an opportune time for a government of National Unity which comprises of the best and most\u00a0capable sons and daughters of the soil. The environment should be created for the participation of a\u00a0slate of independent candidates who can bridge the gap and bring sanity and some political healing to\u00a0this suffering and divided nation.<\/p>\n
Come ye forward sons and daughters! Bring an end to this political\u00a0tribalism, for those who do not know, Dominica is the least developed within the OECS, but Dominica\u00a0has the resources and the wherewithal to prosper but the divisive politics must change, thus the need\u00a0for electoral reform which should not only be limited to the bloated voters list and identification cards.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that Doctor, Doctor Roosevelt Skerrit has outlived his relevance, power has corrupted\u00a0his judgement and he must be relieved from the leadership of the nation or Dominicans will pay the price in\u00a0the next five years which will make Maduro look like a saint. The supreme power has intervened with\u00a0divine intervention, will the population discern?<\/p>\n
Opinions expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Dominica News Online or its advertisers.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an attempt to remedy the plight of a plethora of incompetence in the government of the ruling\u00a0Dominica Labour Party, Prime Minister Doctor, Doctor Roosevelt Skerrit has purged his party and\u00a0cabinet in a manner that is only precedented by the…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":39536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[68,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-214505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carnival","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n