According to CMC News, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit won a third consecutive term in office as his ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP) won its fourth consecutive five-year term in power, withstanding a strong challenge from the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP).
Preliminary results show that the DLP had won 15 of the 21 seats in the general election, with the UWP, which had won a mere three seats in 2009, doubling its tally to six.
Prime Minister Skerrit, who comfortably won his Vielle Case constituency, will however have to do without his Information Minister and DLP Deputy Leader, Ambrose George, who lost to newcomer, Attorney Joshua Francis, while Health Minister Julius Timothy lost to Danny Lugay.
UWP leader, Lennox Linton, who had predicted that his party would have won 15 seats in the election, easily won the Marigot constituency which he took over from former Prime Minister Edison James.
In a radio and television address soon after it became apparent that the DLP had won the election, Prime Minister Skerrit appealed for unity in building the country after the six-week campaign.
Skerrit said he accepts the will and verdict of the people, after he watched his 18-3 majority in the last Parliament dwindle to 15-6.
He congratulated Lennox Linton on entering the new Parliament, saying the outcome of the polls showed that the island had become a “mature democracy”.
Skerrit said he wanted to thank Dominicans for conducting themselves “properly throughout the campaign and minimising the incidence of intimidation, violence and destruction which he said is seen elsewhere.
During his address Skerrit also promised Dominicans that the Government would work to eradicate poverty in its upcoming term in office.
But in an immediate response, Linton told radio listeners that the election had been won by intimidation and bribery and accused the ruling party of orchestrating such a strategy to ensure it remained in power.
(Photo by: www.caribbeanelections.com)
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