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| Administrative divisions (parishes) |
General elections were held in Dominica on 1 July 1985. [1] The result was a victory for the Dominica Freedom Party, which won 15 of the 21 seats. Voter turnout was 74.6%.
| |
|---|
| Administrative divisions (parishes) |
General elections were held in Dominica on 1 July 1985. [1] The result was a victory for the Dominica Freedom Party, which won 15 of the 21 seats. Voter turnout was 74.6%.
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominica Freedom Party | 18,865 | 56.68 | 15 | –2 | |
| Dominica Labour Party | 13,014 | 39.10 | 5 | +5 | |
| United Dominica Labour Party | 558 | 1.68 | 1 | New | |
| Dominica Progressive Force | 78 | 0.23 | 0 | New | |
| Independents | 766 | 2.30 | 0 | –2 | |
| Total | 33,281 | 100.00 | 21 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 33,281 | 99.15 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 284 | 0.85 | |||
| Total votes | 33,565 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 45,018 | 74.56 | |||
| Source: Nohlen | |||||
The first written records in the history of Dominica began in November 1493, when Christopher Columbus spotted the island. Prior to European contact, Dominica was inhabited by the Arawak. Dominica was a French colony from 1715 until the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763, and then became a British colony from 1763 to 1978. It became an independent nation in 1978.
The politics of Dominica takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Dominica is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Roosevelt Skerrit is a Dominican politician who has been Prime Minister of Dominica since 2004; he has also been the Member of Parliament for the Vieille Case constituency since 2000. Regionally, he has served as the chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and most recently as chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in 2010. Skerrit is currently the longest-serving prime minister of Dominica.
Patrick Roland John was the first Prime Minister of Dominica as well as its last Premier. He led Dominica to independence from the United Kingdom. He was leader of the Waterfront and Allied Workers' Union and mayor of Roseau before being elected to the legislature in 1970. He became Premier in 1974 following the resignation of Edward Oliver LeBlanc. After mass protest forced him to resign, John unsuccessfully attempted in 1981 to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Eugenia Charles with the backing of white supremacist groups. As a result, he was jailed for twelve years, of which he served five years.
Elections in Dominica have been taking place since 1832. Dominica elects on national level a legislature. The House of Assembly has 32 members, 21 members elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies, 9 appointed senators, the Speaker and 1 ex officio member. a head of state - the president - is elected by the House of Assembly.
The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) is a conservative political party in Dominica. It shares much of the same socially and economically conservative principles as the Conservative Party in the UK. The party has been led by Bernard Hurtault since 2021.
The Dominica Labour Party is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Dominica.
The United Workers' Party is a centrist political party in Dominica. As of the 2019 general election, it is the only opposition party represented in the House of Assembly of Dominica, holding three of the twenty-one seats. Its past Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly is Hector John.
Dame Mary Eugenia Charles, was a Dominican politician who was Prime Minister of Dominica from 21 July 1980 until 14 June 1995. The first female lawyer in Dominica, she was Dominica's first, and to date only, female prime minister. She was the second female prime minister in the Caribbean after Lucina da Costa of the Netherlands Antilles. She was the first female in the Americas to be elected in her own right as head of government. She served for the second longest period of any Dominican prime minister, and was the world's fourth longest-serving female Prime Minister, behind Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka and Indira Gandhi of India. She held the record for the longest continuous tenure by any female Prime Minister, which was later broken by Sheikh Hasina.
Charles Angelo Savarin is a politician from Dominica who has been President of Dominica since 2013. He is a member of the Dominica Labour Party and served for a time as Minister for National Security, Immigration, Labour and the Public Service.
The House of Assembly is the legislature of Dominica. It is established by Chapter III of the Constitution of Dominica, and together with the President of Dominica constitutes Dominica's Parliament. The House is unicameral, and consists of twenty-one Representatives, nine senators, and the Attorney General as an ex officio member. The Speaker of the House becomes the thirty-second member if chosen from outside the membership of the House.
General elections were held in Dominica on 5 May 2005. The result was a victory for the ruling Dominica Labour Party, which won 12 of the 21 seats in the House of Assembly. The opposition United Workers' Party unsuccessfully made legal challenges to several of the constituency results.
Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically situated as part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. Dominica's closest neighbours are two constituent territories of the European Union, the overseas departments of France, Guadeloupe to the northwest and Martinique to the south-southeast. Dominica comprises a land area of 750 km2 (290 sq mi), and the highest point is Morne Diablotins, at 1,447 m (4,747 ft) in elevation. The population was 71,293 at the 2011 census.
General elections were held in Dominica on 31 January 2000 and saw the Dominica Labour Party led by Rosie Douglas take power defeating the previous government of the United Workers' Party led by Edison James, despite the UWP receiving more votes. The DLP won 10 seats, the UWP 9 seats and the Dominica Freedom Party took 2 seats. Voter turnout was 59.25%. The Dominica Labour Party formed a government in coalition with the Dominica Freedom Party. Voter turnout was 60.2%, the lowest since the introduction of universal suffrage in 1951.
A by-election was held on 9 July 2010 in Dominica, to fill two seats in the House of Assembly that were declared vacant. The contested seats were both won by significant margins by the incumbent candidates, who were members of the opposition United Workers' Party.
General elections were held in Dominica on 26 October 1970. Prior to the elections, the ruling Dominica Labour Party split, with a faction led by Prime Minister Edward Oliver LeBlanc contesting the elections as the 'LeBlanc Labour Party' and the other faction contesting under the DLP name and led by N.A.N. Ducreay. The LeBlanc faction won 8 of the 11 seats. Voter turnout was 81.6%.
General elections were held in Dominica on 6 December 2019. The elections were constitutionally due by March 2020, but had been widely expected to take place before the end of 2019. The result was a landslide victory for the ruling Dominica Labour Party, which won 18 of the 21 elected seats, gaining three seats. With the DLP winning a fifth consecutive election, DLP leader Roosevelt Skerrit remained Prime Minister.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Dominica is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Dominica on 22 March 2020.
Snap general elections are scheduled to be held in Dominica on 6 December 2022.
Kenneth Melchoir Darroux is a Dominican politician and doctor. He is currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs since 17 December 2019 in Dominica. Prior to his appointment as Foreign Affairs Minister he was the Minister for Health and Social Services in the government of Roosevelt Skerrit. He is a member of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP).
