Dominica Votes For New Government

ROSEAU, Dominica, (CMC) – Dominicans are voting in a general election for a new Government with the incumbent Dominica Labour Party (DLP) facing a strong challenge to maintain its 14 year hold on power.

The main opposition United Workers Party (UWP), which is entering the election under the new leadership of Lennox Linton, 56, is proving Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, 42, with a strong challenge to extend his 10-year stay as head of a Government here.

The 250 polling stations across the island opened at 7:00 am (local time) and will close 10 hours later, allowing the estimated 72, 484 eligible voters an opportunity to cast their ballot.

There are 44 candidates including two independents vying for control of the 21-seat Parliament. Among the interesting seats is the Portsmouth constituency, where the incumbent Ian Douglas, the son of a former finance minister, Michael Douglas faces a challenge from his cousin, Cabral Douglas, the son of the late prime minister Rosie Douglas, who is contesting the seat as an independent candidate.

The electoral list is much more than the island’s population of just under 70,000 but the chief elections officer Steven La Rocque explained that this was due to the ongoing registration process and the fact that the law allows for people, whose names are on the lost to remain unless documented proof is provided that they have either migrated or have died.