| Parliament name |
House of Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
5 May 2005 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the directly elected seats following the dissolution of Parliament on 6 April 2005. General elections had previously been held in January 2000. |
On 7 April 2005
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced that parliamentary elections would take place on 5 May. At the age of 32
Mr. Skerrit was the third person to hold the post of prime minister since the last parliamentary elections in 2000. Prime Ministers Rosie Douglas and Pierre Charles had passed away in October 2000 and January 2004 respectively.
Mr. Skerrit led the Dominica Labour Party (DLP)
which had returned to power in 2000 in closely contested elections and formed a coalition government with the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP)
the ruling party between 1980 and 1995. The main opposition party
the United Workers Party (UWP)
was led by Edison James
who had served as prime minister between 1995 and 2000.
The election campaign focused on two main policies implemented by Mr. Skerrit: the suspension of diplomatic relations with Taiwan
in favour of relations with China
and economic reform supported by an IMF loan.
In March 2004
Mr. Skerrits government broke off 20 years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan
after receiving US$ 112 million in aid from China. On 25 April 2005
Prime Minister Skerrit claimed that the UWP was receiving campaign funds from Taiwan on the basis of an agreement to restore diplomatic relations upon UWPs victory.
Nevertheless
the controversy over foreign campaign funds was overshadowed by economic issues. A number of natural disasters have devastated the countrys volatile economy
which is dependent on agricultural exports and tourism
and made dealing with the high unemployment rate a priority. A three-year loan totalling US$ 11.7 million was accorded to Dominica in December 2003 under the IMFs Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) programme
aimed at reestablishing economic growth and reducing unemployment. In exchange
the government agreed to raise sales tax from 3 to 7.5 per cent and reduce the number of government workers. During the election campaign
Prime Minister Skerrit argued that the project supported economic growth
which registered 3.5 per cent in 2004
and a projected 3.7 per cent in 2005. The opposition leader insisted that the government had failed to create sustainable jobs and tangible benefits for ordinary citizens.
About 59 per cent of registered voters cast their ballot. The DLP secured 12 seats
two more than in the 2000 elections. The UWP share remained at eight seats
while for the first time in 35 years the DFP did not win any seats. The remaining seat went to an independent candidate sympathetic to the DLP.
Mr. Skerrit was sworn in as prime minister on 9 May. On 10 May
1
000 UWP supporters rallied in front of the government headquarters to protest the election results. Opposition leader James insisted that irregularities at the polls had enabled the DLP to win five of its twelve seats. The UWP also accused the DLP of buying airplane tickets with funds from money laundering activities to enable some Dominicans to return to vote in the elections. The prime minister denied these accusations. The new cabinet was sworn in on 12 May.
The new parliament held its first session on 27 July 2005 and re-elected Ms. Alix Boyd Knights as speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 5 May 2005 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
65'889
38'935 (59.09%)
1'022
37'913 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Dominica Labor Party (DLP) |
|
19'741 |
|
|
52.07 |
|
|
| United Workers Party (UWP) |
|
16'529 |
|
|
43.60 |
|
|
| Independents |
|
426 |
|
|
1.12 |
|
|
| Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) |
|
1'194 |
|
|
3.15 |
|
|
| Dominica Progressive Party |
|
23 |
|
|
0.06 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Gain/Loss |
|
|
|
| Dominica Labor Party (DLP) |
12
|
2 |
|
|
|
| United Workers Party (UWP) |
8
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Independents |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) |
0
|
-2 |
|
|
|
| Dominica Progressive Party |
0
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
27
4
12.90%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
21 to 30 years
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
|
1
7
10
9
4
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Legal professions |
4 |
| Educators |
4 |
| Business/trade/industry employees
including executives |
4 |
| Farmers/agricultural workers (including wine growers) |
4 |
| Others |
3 |
| Medical professions (doctors
dentists
nurses) |
3 |
| Civil/public servants/administrators (including social/development workers) |
2 |
| Military/police officers |
2 |
| Liberal professions (including artists
authors) and sports professionals |
2 |
| Engineers/PC experts |
1 |
| Bankers (including invest bankers)/accountants |
1 |
| Consultants (including real estate agents) |
1 |
|
| Comments |
Source:
- Clerk of the House of Assembly (27.07.2005
08.02.2008)
- CNN (http://www.cnn.com)
- News-Dominica.com (http://www.news-dominica.com)
- Caribbean Net News (http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/)
- House of assembly (08.02.2008)
Note on the number of women:
- one woman was elected;
- 2 of 9 appointed senotors are women;
- Ms. Alix Boyd Knights was reappointed as Speaker on 5 August 2005
bringing the number of women to 4 of 31 members. |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
